Abby-Jane Taylor presented the project at the NZIA 2020 Student Design Awards, where she won a highly commended award. Photo / Supplied
Abby-Jane Taylor presented the project at the NZIA 2020 Student Design Awards, where she won a highly commended award. Photo / Supplied
A Hawke's Bay-born woman's architecture project theoretically "disassembling" and "reassembling" a Pukehou church has won an award at the New Zealand Institute of Architecture 2020 Student Design Awards
For her final-year thesis project, University of Auckland School of Architecture and Planning student Abby-Jane Taylor, who is originally from Waipukurau, choseto focus on a local church in Pukehou.
Taylor had originally planned to do her project on a building in Auckland, but when the Covid-19 lockdown hit, she found herself back in Hawke's Bay staying in Pukehou.
The only building nearby she could visit was Christ Church, a category 1 historic place in Pukehou.
So, Taylor got permission to take photos and measurements, outlining the details of the building and documenting how it was built.
"Reassembling the Assembly" is a project that explores how existing architecture can be changed as the needs of small communities change.
One of four reassembled designs is a small fire station. Image / Abby-Jane Taylor
Another one of Abby-Jane Taylor's concept designs was a small library. Image / Abby-Jane Taylor
It includes four "reassemblies" - concept designs and 3D models that Taylor created down to individual weatherboards.
The designs were created by "disassembling" the church and using the parts to create four new buildings: a workshop and storage building for the disassembled parts, a small library, a fire station and a meeting area/hall.
"Disassembly is pursued as an alternative to demolition and a strategy for enduring architecture, while reassembly describes the design process of reusing existing built elements in new and exciting ways," the project description reads.
"Each reassembly aims to foster a strong connection to place, which was lost when the church dwindled into obsolescence."
Taylor presented the project at the NZIA Te Kāhui Whaihanga Resene 2020 Student Design Awards – an annual awards event where the top four final-year students from each of the country's three schools of architecture present their projects.
'Assembly Hall' is a meeting area created from the disassembled church. Image / Abby-Jane Taylor
Taylor was one of three who received highly commended awards.
The judges' citation said the project "brings into question commonly accepted conventions of 'heritage'".
"This project clearly identifies notions of assembly, disassembly and adaptability that allow for recognition of the value of heritage material while 're-designating' it as a renewable, reconfigurable resource.
"Robust and thorough processes for conceptual development, high attention to cataloguing and reconnective detailing and iterative reassembly makes for a thought-provoking proposal."
Taylor finishes university in February and is looking for architecture jobs in Auckland.
