The decision by Tauranga City to opt for an all-timber civic office building has been welcomed by timber manufacturers as a catalyst for other large-scale mass wooden building projects.
As part of an inner-city rejuvenation programme, Tauranga city commissioners have undertaken to build the new 10,000 square metre building in the central business district with investment and property development company Willis Bond.
The building’s scale will make it the largest mass wooden constructed office space in New Zealand, and it aims to have a minimal carbon footprint in both content and the construction process.
Wood Processors and Manufacturers Association chief executive Stephen Macaulay said the wooden building industry is at a fascinating juncture right now.
A number of good projects are starting to emerge thanks to government policy, new construction products and NZ’s own Timber Design Centre, which opened in March.
Last year the government adopted a policy for large-scale publicly owned building construction, requiring that timber construction be considered under its Building for Climate Change initiative.
The initiative is part of efforts to get the building industry to reduce its emissions by half within a decade to meet 2050 carbon targets.
Macaulay said the development of more engineered timber products adopted from overseas technology for fast-growing NZ exotic timber is also heralding a new era in design and construction possibilities.
“You have the likes of Glulam engineered timber, glued-together timber that provides structural strength, for example,” Macaulay said.
The Tauranga civic project aims to be constructed to the highest Green Star environmental standards, and will incorporate features such as electric vehicle charging and rainwater harvesting.
As per the government’s Building for Climate Change initiative, the project has one eye on “embodied carbon” – reducing the amount of carbon emitted through the manufacturing, transportation and installation of all the building’s components.
Tauranga City Commission chair Anne Tolley said the commission wanted to push the boundaries to design a wholly sustainable, future-focused workplace for the council.
“This will be our home for at least the duration of the 15-year lease, so it’s important that we get it right,” Tolley said.
It comes as the existing council building, which was only 33 years old, has been torn down due to leaks and inherent design flaws.
Council and Willis Bond staff will be working with local iwi to ensure Māori knowledge is incorporated into the look and feel of the building design.
Macaulay said the more large-scale buildings are constructed using mass engineered timber, the more interest will grow.
Several other recently completed high-profile projects around the country include Nelson airport terminal and the Clearwater Quays apartments north of Christchurch, built with Red Stag Timber products.
The Timber Design Centre is intended to increase the use of timber in the design and construction of all building projects, with a particular focus on non-residential and multi-storey buildings.
Macaulay said timber-constructed commercial buildings are particularly suited to the mid-height levels cities like Tauranga demand.
As a sector, the construction industry contributes 20% of NZ’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The Tauranga civic project is due to start later this year with completion scheduled for late 2024.
