Colour blocking

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While timber features throughout the Waipa Campus, colour was used as the primary device to define the architectural language and inject liveliness.

The design team behind the new Waipa Campus of the Waiariki Institute of Technology looked to showcase the use of timber in every part of the building. But the designers were also mindful of the need for visual balance.

Darryl Church Architecture consequently introduced a variety of Resene colours to highlight key architectural elements and add visual impact. Coloured panels were also used to also reduce the amount of timber used.

Exterior paints were chosen to help protect the timber, so it can age gracefully in the harsh environment. Verda battens, prefinished with an aged treatment, were laid over plywood stained with Resene Grey Green to provide contrast. The supports for the entry canopy were stained in Resene Japanese Maple, a nature-toned red, to visually lift and define the veranda around the main entry.

On the interior, colour was used to express the timber structure and articulate the connections. Resene Planter, an olive green, features on doors, built-in joinery and acoustic wall linings. Resene Colorwood tinted to Resene Fern Frond (a yellow green), Resene Japanese Maple and Resene Grey Green brings the exterior colours indoors, and adds a fresh fern accent.

In the teaching areas, the flooring, acoustic panels and stained plywood linings are blocked together to provide an interesting colour graphic. The colours are a complementary play on greens, which work well with the timber and controlled injections of rusty reds that reference the Waiariki corporate red.

The project won this year's Resene Total Colour Education Award, with the judges praising the way the colour underscores the wood.

"The dark stain behind the exterior screen makes it more powerful and delivers an amazing play of light behind the battens. It provides an added visual dimension and a sense of liveliness."