Massey University Te Ara Hihiko

The structure includes the world’s first multi-storey post-tensioned timber frame, resting on a conventional masonry and insitu concrete plinth. The structural design enables the building to ‘rock’ open and closed as the frame sways in an earthquake and incorporates damage avoidance design principles allowing for early occupation of the building following an earthquake. The simplicity, regularity, and proportions of the post-tensioned LVL frame eliminate the requirement for fixed structural divisions on the upper two levels and allow a wide range of spatial layouts, fit out and uses over time. The frame is highly articulated and expressed from both inside and outside, contributing strongly to the character of the building. The building is arranged on a north-south axis and comprises a pair of vertically stacked, lofty but lightweight linear studio ‘containers’ that straddle the escarpment, stepping down the contour and enveloping a major new circulation route connecting the upper and lower terraces of the campus, inspiring the Maori name of the building, Te Ara Hihiko; ‘the creativepathway’.