University of Waikato Tauranga campus wins prestigious Australasian award

University of Waikato Tauranga Campus wins top Australasian Award. Photographer / Lightforge

The University of Waikato Tauranga campus has scooped another top award for its innovative learning environment design at an Australasian awards ceremony.

The facility is designed by Aotearoa New Zealand leading architecture practice, Jasmax, working in collaboration with the University of Waikato and its community partners.

The design project won the New Construction / Entire New Educational Facility Category at the Learning Environments Australasia's 12th Annual Awards for Excellence in Educational Facilities last week.

It also won the prestigious honour from a highly competitive shortlist of buildings in New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore.

Learning Environments Australasia is the peak body advocating for quality and innovation in learning environments to enhance student outcomes.

It seeks to raise awareness of the essential interplay between space design, pedagogy, and technology.

The awards showcase architects and educators working together to produce inspiring educational facilities.

The awards judges said the University of Waikato Tauranga Campus was "a stunningly elegant building" that achieved its stated vision to deliver 'a foundational university building in Tauranga and in do so grounds the project in its "sense of place
and people".

The judges went on to say that the building exhibits "simplicity in its solution to a complex technical brief with a rich layering of meaning."

"The facility is a statement of the importance and opportunity for educational buildings to fully and comprehensively understand and engage with their cultural context.

"It is a learning environment that engenders a deep sense of belonging that connects to
the past, while creating a catalyst for an inclusive future."

Jasmax CEO, Sjoerd Post, said: "The University of Waikato Tauranga campus is a world-leading example of bi-cultural design and it's incredibly affirming that this has been recognised on an international stage.

"The University and Jasmax share the vision for raising the bar on indigenous design intelligence and subsequent outcomes in the built environment."

"The partnership between Jasmax, the University of Waikato and the team of cultural artists and advisors was integral throughout the project.

"It informed the conceptual and educational innovations for the project, delivering on the University's aspiration for an educational facility that speaks to local heritage and cultural identity, becoming a 'changemaker' and lifting the uptake of tertiary education for all of the community in the region."

University of Waikato's Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Alister Jones, said: "We're delighted this has been recognised by such a prestigious awards programme.

Jones said Jasmax team had created an iconic building that reflected the "broader
cultural, social, physical environment" and incorporated best practice in modern tertiary teaching environments and collaborative social learning spaces for students.

Jones said the University of Waikato Tauranga Campus was "inspiring, functional,
innovative and aesthetically beautiful".

"We are very proud it showcases world-leading tertiary education in a bi-cultural
context."

The multi-purpose state-of-the-art facility was a triple winner in the 2019 Bay of Plenty Property Council Awards, taking out the Supreme Excellence, Urban Design and Best Team Awards.

The project is shortlisted for the 2020 NZIA Architecture Awards and Property Council Awards, the winners of which will be announced later this year.