Tauranga to be home to largest timber office building
Tauranga City Council’s new office building at 90 Devonport Road is set to be the largest mass timber office building in New Zealand and will target a net zero carbon footprint for the building’s construction process.
Warren and Mahoney’s 90 Devonport, a 10,000m2, eight-storey, mass timber office building in Tauranga for property developer Willis Bond, is targeting a low-embodied-carbon footprint, with the use of a mass timber structure replacing traditional concrete and steel elements.
Leased by Tauranga City Council over a 15-year agreement, the building will accommodate all council staff under one roof and the architects are working with Willis Bond, Tauranga City Council and mana whenua to incorporate matauranga Maori principles throughout the design. Sustainable benefits are key drivers for the project.
“Warren and Mahoney’s goal is for all new projects to be net-carbon zero in operation, be 50 per cent more energy efficient and have 40 per cent less embodied carbon by 2030,” says architect Divya Purushotham, who is leading the project alongside principals Blair Johnston and Richard Archbold. “Against this benchmark, 90 Devonport achieves approximately 60 per cent reduction in upfront emissions when compared to the business-as-usual concrete and steel model.”
“Mass timber construction enables the building to store more carbon than it emits during the construction phase,” adds Purushotham, “setting a significant benchmark, particularly for the Tauranga region.”
Given the industry is in its early days in understanding the capacities of mass timber, Purushotham says it was critical that the building retained simplicity to achieve feasibility.
“This enabled the team to achieve large structural spans at a significant height while remaining commercially viable. Simple forms, hybrid structural systems and familiar materials enabled a realistic pathway to achieve a low-embodied- carbon outcome.”
The architects say the project has benefited from creative solutions and problem-solving offered by a large team, including the client, mana whenua, Dunning Thornton, Beca and LT McGuinness, amongst others, “all of whom challenged and encouraged different ways of thinking to drive innovation”.
90 Devonport is aiming for the highest 6 Green Star design rating. Construction is expected to commence in late 2022 and be completed before the end of 2024.
For an update on this project (April 2024), see this video from LT McGuinness:
