O’Donnell + Tuomey Interview

Published Architecture NZ NO.3 2015

O’Donnell + Tuomey gave a stellar presentation at in:situ and I was bestowed the honor of a brief-but-informal  conversation with practice instigators, directors and partners in the sublime, Sheila and John.

 The pair are the recipients of a recent Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal, an award that is not just given for one project but a body of work – an ‘accumulation’ – where the sum of each individual project creates a whole of greater value, represented eloquently in the practice-generated hybrid drawing ‘composite functions, compatible plans connected’, seen in Space for Architecture: the Work of O’Donnell+Tuomey, the firm’s recently published monograph.

Each project is an opportunity for the practice to explore ideas across project scale and typology, to render them at different scales and levels of resolution. It is as if the practice is consumed by one continuous project, creating space for architecture “when there is never enough time.” 

‘Space for Architecture’ was also the title of their conference presentation, elaborated on by the pair as “a slow, continuous and un-folding business. On the one hand, architecture isn’t clearly defined – it has its own rules and its inherent logic – but it’s so complex and is so much a part of life and living that it’s influenced by and accommodates and maybe even contains many other aspects of human creativity and ingenuity. We think it extends beyond itself in a number of ways.”

These intelligent and considered conversationalists speak with a slight musicality, as is the Dublin tradition. Tuomey is provoking in his lyrical tone: “Even if architecture didn’t exist, there still would be architecture as an area of study.”

The couple’s practice of 25 years is a rags to riches story of sorts. Determination, passion, talent, a little bit of luck – as are all success stories – hard work and, in the end, there is no mincing words when these two place a building on site.

“When we came back to Dublin after five or six years (of education) in London, we thought we might build small-scale, socially-useful civic buildings in Irish towns,” says O’Donnell. But “as we left London, a good friend told us half-jokingly, ‘Go back and change the face of Irish architecture’ and we, half-jokingly, had, out of this, a kind-of idealistic dream. We were inspired by the idea that architecture could have a role in defining society and we came back to Ireland to find ourselves in a society undergoing great cultural and social change.”

Their youth-fuelled mission to rediscover Irish architecture and, by extension, a quest for post-colonial architectural identity is explained: “On consideration, when you go in search of something, it is often not the focus of your search that you find but something else… In the end, that search, we realised, perhaps, not an architecture of Ireland but an architecture of place not style. A way of thinking about architecture and place.”

O’Donnell+Tuomey’s architecture isn’t interested in a style nor, perhaps, does it claim to be of any nation. It is a process that discovers a place through rigorous investigation – “close noticing”, that focuses the essence of place, an attention on specifics, of site – be it a view or an urban or social or environmental condition. A result of immersion and analysis. “In that sense, the conference theme of in:situ is vital to our practice,” they state. A site becomes more about itself after an intervention than before, through an uncovering or discovering and revealing of what was there all along, as if through lifting a veil an architecture is quietly revealed.

When the couple arrived in Dublin, it was economically depressed wth no building happening, so their attention was focused on how they might contribute to the positive development of their city. “It was unpaid work, we were teaching and making proposals about the city. Political activism and interactions in that community lead us to our first clients,” they explain.  “There was no work for young architects but there was plenty to think about... While we were busy redesigning the city...we learned to think strategically and experientially at the same time. We realised that a house needs an urban strategy and a city block needs intimate space. But you have to make the work you believe in and you have to stick with it.”

 Toumey explains that they would like to see more relevance brought back to the profession, explaining their version of a future perfect: “I would like architects to be like the doctor who announces his presence when a crowd is gathered around an injured person. I want people to be genuinely relieved when a crowd gathers to discuss a design issue and someone announces they are an architect.”  

odonnell-tuomey.ie

Selling out

Selling out - architecture as product and a salty sea breeze – a provocation.

Published Architecture NZ No.3 2015

"Any architect should be radical by nature because it is not enough for him to begin where others have left off." (Edgar Kaufmann and Ben Raeburn, Frank Lloyd Wright: Writings and Buildings. New York, Meridian Books, 1974, p. 234)

On a recent excursion to a coastal subdivision North-West of Auckland I was struck not only by the thickness of the hot summer air, the smile of the sales lady and the intensity of construction activity but also by the preponderance of a phrase not often referenced in architectural circles, ‘selling out’

What on earth, I thought, is that red-hot bold faced sign referring to? The most obvious reference maybe to a supply that demand has outstripped, but perhaps something deeper was lurking behind the surface of the brick veneer and home star rated product neatly organized within such a high amenity landscape.

Of course one can’t ignore the salespersons plea, “it’s selling out” with the implications there may not be any left if you don’t give a deposit promptly.  Auckland real estate is a high risk game where a moments indecision may cost dearly. Buy now for it will sell out.

Wait I thought, it can’t be architecture the sign is referring to, Architecture is surely not selling out.  To sell out implies compromised integrity, morality and or authenticity for personal or financial gain. This is exactly the time in human history architecture needs to reach deeply and summon all its strength in order to stand up to the challenges facing humanity. This is not the time to be selling out.  None of my heroes sold out.  Bat man never made a deal with the penguin.

So if Auckland’s answer to the housing crisis is selling out, or placing the consumer under the threat of the imminence of selling out, while disguising the ugliness of high margin development in a cloak of sustainability and social good it’s a selling out that’s OK leaning on a crutch of affordability, lead by developers squeezed by political negotiations, the shake of a hand, a welcome home loan, a 50 sqm house, affordability based on a square meter rate dictating shrinkage in scale as a means to maintain margins in all other calculations. If developers can’t budge on margins and land and building costs are a given, something has to give, and it’s either going to have to be size of land, and or building, or both. Higher density product becomes higher density profit?

In a world where revolutionaries are sold as icons of global capitalism the Che T-shirt case in point.  Are we so surprised at the commoditization of the basic elements of human survival? Housing, food, water, air it is all on the table for sale to the highest bidder. It is all selling out as quick we can stock the shelves. Consumption is consuming us.

I’m probably just having another midlife crisis and should take those selling out signs at face value and accept the rush to debt and smaller more economical better for you homes in a nicer better for you street where urban design principles are obvious and nature is accessible to all the milk powder raised babies, I saw it on TV.

In a world where the Ad guys spoon feed us product from our pharmaceuticals to our homes, where life styles are more often than not only dreamed of but the goad to upgrade is relentless, where PR and spin is the news at the end of the day, should we be at all surprised that architecture may have had a dying request to fulfill, help us sell out, please. The architects are left questioning once again where their service provision might fit in an ecosystem driven by celebrity, luxury goods and capital gain. With out the catalyst of public funding, or conscience, there is no social agenda left in NZ architecture nee society.

Interestingly a squeeze on the Waitemata harbor may cause architects to step out on the weekend in anger and assume a political agenda to save our city from the encroachment of global economics. Too late? Batman is already having lunch with the Penguin.

A possible scenario develops – the developer donates to the architects retirement fund and a cultural folly is commissioned on newly reclaimed land. A Herzog & de Meuron-inspired car park is included in the vision statement, along with ongoing support of architects’ yacht racing. All the cranes are painted pink, Champagne corks pop and the previous concerns are washed down with canapés. Don’t take it all so seriously, it is just architecture, its only a city.  50 years is a blink of an eye. We'll try and do it better next time around. All tickets to ports of Auckland inaugural architecture dinner selling out. And so it goes.  Is selling out just par for the cause ? Salespersonship certainly is, under the hammer, sold to the highest bidder.

In a culture intent on selling and conversely buying is an architecture that sells out the greatest endorsement of product and design catering to what the market wants?

In a culture where housing – the most basic of human needs – is primarily considered as product, and where scale and form are driven by developer preconceptions and market forces, the end-product itself becomes an indictment of society and its own democratic processes. We are what we build. 

Perhaps we should concoct an architecture that in its brilliance doesn’t sell out, that  is the last bastion of a free market, last man standing, the ugliest house on the worst street an architecture that doesn’t sell that doesn’t fit any predetermined spread sheet or idea, that challenges aesthetics, that slowly ripens and is consumed in the same manner , slowly.  An antithetical architecture that leaves real estate agents confused and developers flummoxed. The number of bedrooms changes daily, garaging cannot be quantified, there is no media room, all generic descriptions and methodologies for measuring value are irrelevant. It is driven by a relentless pursuit of an ideal society not a developers idea of what sells.  Architecture is not interested in what sells only in what feels authentic and touches us deeply. A product is grounded in the realities of our place, technological and economic, finding innovation where ever it can. The house that offers shelter as cave, warmth as fire, security as a hill top.  An architecture driven by creativity and innovation, not market, one that connects with the primeval and the universal.   The house is my country writ small.  It is no surprise then that  selling out sign is so pervasive.

We are having a garage sale next weekend. Hoping to sell out. Come grab a bargain.

On mash ups, hybrids and super collisions.

First Published in BLOCK Auckland Institute of Architects Broadsheet December 11, 2014

Image Mashing it up in Otahuhu courtesy of Micheal McCabe

 “as beautiful as the random encounter between an umbrella and a sewing-machine upon a dissecting-table.” Andre Breton

Now the obligatory post studio counseling sessions are finished I may be able to approach the last 12 weeks with some degree of objectivity and reflect on what it was we set out to do.

As described in the Studio Brief:

An investigation of mixed use / hybridization/ adaptation and evolving forms on the urban fringe.

The studio will act as a think tank relative to the concept of “mixed use” as a development and urban planning strategy.

The studio will investigate opportunities and present possible futures for a specific piece of urban geography.

The studio will be a vehicle for architectural proposals based on research, inspired analysis, creative vision and technical rigor.

And so it goes ....As always a semester in the studio at AKL uni school of architecture and planning a rewarding, challenging and  very busy time. A certain level of stepping outside comfort zones, of trust, of risk taking and moving into that space where anything is possible, bound only by time and energy levels. Starting point Exquisite corpse a surrealist mash up, symbol of creative freedom, collaboration, game playing and an approach to city making. 

“So what does Urban Futures Research Lab do any way” one student was heard to ask “well we research urban futures” was the obvious answer “specifically related to opportunities in the built environment but if you want a new suit we might be able to help you with that also. “  UFRL was created as a catchall for developing a cross disciplinary research based design practice.  An urban think tank and design agency with a deep interest in the design opportunities presented in the contemporary city. We consider research is the key for unlocking opportunities for innovation in contemporary design……with that as a basis we launched into a 12 week program of design research, thinking and making.

 The studio was based on the assumption research on the CBD is well resourced. That the periphery is the new centre and that relevance in architecture is maintained by addressing the issues of the day. Issues like the city, the unitary plan, affordability, carbon neutrality, environmental remediation, technology, place making in no particular order. That the city is the new house, that Utopias are fine in concept but lets make it Aucktopia and use this city as a living research and design laboratory.

On that basis Auckland City Properties was approached to supply us with any sites they considered might require creative thinking and unique solutions. Bingo, Purchas Hill on Merton Road adjacent Stone-fields, the University Tamaki campus and a manufacturing zone, a site scarred by quarrying, dumping and general neglect atop of Auckland’s 2^nd largest aquifer. Not challenging enough how about the ex recreation centre site in Otahuhu adjacent the vibrancy of the strip pinched between two harbors, what next for this piece of urban infrastructure ? Lastly a hectare of opportunity back of main street Pukekohe, as close to a service town you’ll get this side of the Bombays, ripe for reconsideration outside of its linear, one horse tradition and targeted for intensification.

The Studio was considered firstly as a think tank with a collective focus on quickly developing knowledge on the broad and rather banal idea of “mixed use” as a planning concept and building type. That knowledge then collectively ‘shared’ and to be the basis for an attitude regards the opportunities inherent in future Auckland. We documented and mapped some recent built examples of mixed use locally as well as internationally. The results of that research confirmed that the notion of mix although desired for all the right reasons was not always wholly successful in creating the outcomes desired. That research is an ongoing part of my Practice.

We were primarily interested in an investigation of opportunities for innovation when the idea of mix is pushed to become more of a mash. Individual parts may lose their identity and assume a new one greater than the sum of the parts, much tastier one student was heard to extol. In particle physics colliders are used as a research tool why not in architecture. Replace protons with program and see where we end up.

The approach taken in this studio and others I have lead is about establishing a space for students to work collectively and collaboratively, collecting and sharing research information and ideas freely while developing their own individual projects ideas and a critical focus within the context of a wider educational framework. In that sense each project has potential as a mini thesis. For this particular studio pedagogical outcomes were outlined to the students with research as the key driver, whether the focus of that research be the Unitary plan or broader in focus such as the constraints and opportunities for architecture within a future city. The studio themes developed from my own research and interest in future city and a critical engagement with the potential in Auckland’s unprecedented growth.

The primary objective of the studio as a leaning environment was to develop an enabling mechanism allowing students to create some exciting design proposals that confirmed, challenged or refuted the status quo idea of what how, where and what “mix” might happen in a super city by investigating opportunities inherent in mash-ups and super collisions of programs, materials and cultures.

Urban projects of scale are a big ask for a third year design studio especially when aligned with the year’s over arching themes relating to building systems and integration of technology and construction details in final design proposals. In that sense a macro to the micro lens was required that will hopefully  be a useful tool for students to draw on in other projects. The Studio at one level then about urban futures at another a critical investigation of zone based planning and context. At another level formal research into outcomes of hybridisation taking a leaf out of Atelier Bow Wow’s Made in Toyko, NL Architects Basketbar and Bike pavilion, BIG Architects numerous projects, OMA Seattle library et al, MVRDV Market hall, DIY urbanism, all precedents with more than a nostalgic new urban notion of city, live above, retail below, parking hidden, minimums met, sweet. All precedents with an attitude regards research as a basis for enabling innovative outcomes. We were looking for exciting mixes and dynamic relationships, the unexpected, the WTF moment, the zeitgeist.

Of course in the context of an election year, yawn, where politics and architecture hold an uneasy alliance, where maintenance of a “beige urbanity” is not only a cultural strategy but also one of maintaining power and wealth. Let them eat ugly one Mr English was heard to say.

In terms of outcomes the range of responses as usual thoughtful and diverse, highlighting to me the key concerns for this generation, namely a deeply felt social and environmental responsibility That architecture does have a social agenda and the market is not yet delivering the types of development young people are interested in i.e. is not engaging with an environmental and  social agenda at a scale that is relevant. That there is a need for critical engagement with the likes of Stonefields and status quo, both as a process and product  in order that new models can be tried and tested. That there is an opportunity for community and “design” to work together in a way that is currently not yet been exploited in the super city matrix.

Ultimately the relevance of the profession rests in the enabling of each generation to find ways for their thinking and approach to percolate through and find expression in our built environment. The market may need some catalysts in that respect as well as confirmation of insurance.

We can rest assured even under the burden of student debt, massive,rapid, technological and social change, the shattering and remaking of kiwi dreams of home ownership etc we shouldn’t be worried too much as long as the energy, exuberance and idealism of youth are encouraged and enabled in the profession.   That has always been the role of our institutions and educators. Thankfully there remains some passionate people who take that role to heart . Long  may that be so.

Rock and roll is a young persons game but strangely if Mick Jagger was an architect he would be seen to be entering the most creative years of his career. What a city we might have if some of the talent passing through the halls of academia were let loose on the world before age and gravity start to take their toll. Rock and roll. Bricks and mortar……..we built this city ( the worst song of the eighties coming back to haunt me ). In the end it’s about just doing it by any means necessary. 

"It's the economy, stupid"

In the Pipeline _ Notes on a positive start to a New Year.

First published in Architecture NZ Dec 2014

“The forecast value for national building and construction remains at an unprecedented level and shows a sustained rate of growth that has not been seen in 40 years. The annual value of all building and construction, nationally, is projected to increase 48% from 2012 to the peak in 2016 ($35b) and by 32% from 2012 to 2019. The annual value of non-residential building and construction grows by 39% from 2012 to 2019 and residential building by 23%. “

Wohoo. Summer is here, post GFC, post Venice, post elections, the profession is in the midst of a once in a generation opportunity, are you feeling it ?

Hands rubbing together in anticipatory glee, acetate frames, bifocal polycarbonate lenses all steamed up, black polo neck traded for something more couture, it’s the Architect’s moment ?

We can only hope like bears in spring, all are ready to pounce on the feast of a generation. It is all on. Leave your knives and forks at the door. Get stuck in, see you on the other side, satiated. Everyone welcome just let the big fellas gorge first.

Its no secret, in New Zealand there exists in the coming years a very large opportunity to build a legacy, by that I am not talking about the number of Audis in the driveway at the beach house, but a legacy of architectural innovation. Hopefully the latter leads to the former.

Historically down sides of boom cycles have been the opportunity for natural attrition through talent export or cross disciplinary osmosis but also an opportunity for blue sky thinking, academic explorations and idea generation via research and dissertation. It is the upside where research is put to the test and cities are built and legacies are created.

Boom cycles of previous scale are visible in all our cities, as agglomerations of cultural memory our cities are built on time lines aligned with population growth, demand, availability of resources and cash fueled increasingly by global economics and geopolitical dynamics.

The outcome now of this up-cycle remains to be seen but one hopes the perfect storm of demand for quality design, increases in productivity and young talent hungry to build new ways of living that address the issues of our time may leave a legacy of vibrant, well designed compact cities rather than a leaky, car dependent  beige ness.

Who is steering the supertanker?

It is encouraging to see industry leadership has used down time as period of   retrenchment in order to understand the opportunities for a potential retooling and kudos to those involved. We may already be witness to some fractional movement in the supertanker as issues discussed in post GFC think tanks now take form in our environment.

The special housing area act is one such outcome as are rumored changes to the Resource Management Act as a means to streamline urban development. The potential merging of Waterfront Auckland and Auckland City Properties Limited to form NZ’s first Urban Development Authority another topical result. By the way If there is a Robert Moses waiting in the wings now might be a time to step forward.

The Building and Construction Productivity Partnership is a partnership of industry and Government, established in 2010 to address low productivity in the construction industry. It ceased to exist on November 1^st of this year . It has been brought into the folds of the ministry for everything, MBIE, http://www.mbie.govt.nz with former director Chris Kane retained at the helm to continue the good work he was doing up to this point.

The Productivity Partnership  http://www.buildingvalue.co.nz/ aims to build the value of New Zealand's building and construction sector and empower it to become productive, safe and profitable, so that it delivers good quality, affordable homes and provides a foundation for strong communities and a prosperous economy.

The Partnership's goal is to increase productivity by 20% by 2020.

i.e. Using the period of boom as a catalyst for culture change within the industry in order to increase productivity and value of dollar spent.

As part of the research the Productivity partnership has being producing, the National Construction Pipeline Reports are a window into the wave of opportunity upon us. The report draws on updated data from Statistics NZ, projections by Pacifecon NZ Ltd and forecasts by BRANZ covering both residential and non-residential building.

The industry has been preparing  itself at a high level in the wings but what of the SME’s and traditional mom and pop design firms who for now remain the majority. Is it enough to increase club memberships and to up skill in BIM and Rhino to remain competitive ?  With the majority of projected construction spend on the Christchurch rebuild & Auckland what opportunities exist for the rest of New Zealand *?

We need to remember old models don’t work anymore, old models of practice and old models of procuring innovation( google it ). What processes have been established to enable new players to bubble through? Of all the housing currently been planned what percentage is been handled by Architects? Does any body know ? Five per cent used to be the number bandied about. Is that still accurate? In these days of data wealth we should exactly know where architects skills are in most demand. The AIA uses a billing index as a useful measure of understanding the market circumstances in real time.  The October ABI score was 53.7 compared to a 2009 low of 33 and 2006 high of 62.

Work-on-the-Boards is a monthly survey conducted by the AIA's Economics and Market Research group. The survey of firm principals and partners allows participants to track business conditions as they change. Participation enables you to compare your firm to others, track the economy and local business conditions, and use data to target business opportunities. 

Building activity is monitored in NZ BY statistics NZ who have monthly updates on data collected through building consents.

Statistics NZ data for October show Consents in all categories have risen by 20.4% ($2.47 billion) for the year to $14.59 billion. That’s 64% ($5.7 billion) more than consents across the whole construction sector at the bottom of the market in 2011. 

Despite discussion of the need for management of extremes in the industry the business model generally remains the same, it’s feast or famine. Squirrel away for the lows, harvest in the highs. In mental health parlance bipolar is what it is called, a mental disorder characterized by periods of elevated mood and periods of depression. The elevated mood is significant and is known as mania or hypomania and according to the latest pipe line report that’s where the industry is heading, hypo build mania  for the next few years, leave your meds at home and join the party intoxicated by potential, increased productivity and profit. Get out your calculator and start adding up the fees. But remember waves don’t go on for ever and it may be a long paddle out to the next wave. Enjoy it while you can. Happy New year.

Gone Fishing

Originally published Architecture NZ, Issue # 5, September 2014.

State housing in a holding pen, Hobsonville Auckland

There is now only weeks to a national election and a fleeting  opportunity to reboot a discussion on what issues Architects and design professionals should be thrashing around meeting tables, wine bars and lunch rooms  other than what revit family they may have recently married into or what solution offers the least risk when detailing the next winning contribution to the WAN awards. What is an acceptable solution for architects in national politics? What party will contribute most through a proactive architecture agenda?

We are all part of the same big picture 21^st century NZ inc bubble competing for global dollars and talent within a profession struggling to maintain a relevance in a landscape peppered with socio economic disparity, cycles of boom and bust, inflated egos and margins, social media, global warming, primacy of image, reactionary regulation, geographic disparity, effectiveness and efficiency in governance, ecological decimation, capital gain and stasis. So whats the difference in the regions ?

Two terms into a Key government theoretically we are all in the same boat though the regions have been left without the prop of sky rocketing property values or subsidized rebuilds, left largely at the mercy of the weather, the value of the dollar, the price of milk and effectiveness of local government leads a widening gap in the architecture haves and have nots. Where could political will make a positive difference?

Nothing like a step program to better health, ten steps to regional architectural nirvana:

1. A national spatial Strategy that defines regional development in the context of a national vision and proactively promotes and incentives regional growth
2. A definition of quality in the resource management act that can be used to leverage something other than a beige urbanity. Design Quality needs to be mandated at a national level, Critical regionalism doesn’t mean different standards outside of the mets.
3. A government Architect with networked regional offices mandating quality across sectors, absorbing young talent from the metropolitan areas as catalysts for innovation and promotion of best practice design.
4. A national business case and mandate for the value of design as integral to economic, social and cultural development. Works for Denmark, Design lead NZ inc.
5. A National urban design review panel on call with objective critique for projects of significance able to rise above vested interests, potential conflicts of interest, fear of critical engagement and parochialism.
6. A national procurement policy that guarantees all public funds are leveraged to enable best outcomes in the built environment through rigorous design competition processes. Including schools and social housing.
7. A focused and integrated research agenda that realizes the potential of architecture too add value to primary exports like logs and tourism.
8. A devolving of power from local government to Communities who need to be given back a voice in place making through meaningful engagement processes.
9. The establishment of a National grants program available to architects and urbanists as creative practitioners and producers of culture of national importance.
10. A reassessment of built heritage in light of the EQ prone building issues with a funding strategy available for owners in order that a national resource is not decimated in the short term.

Of course sustainability, integration, diversity, resilience and all those other buzz words are built into the above. 

The public nature of their work embeds architects in political debate whether they like it or not. An election year then is an opportunity to  gain a footing in a national conversation about the environment and the opportunities design may leverage. It’s the difference between architecture as a luxury accessory or a route to social and economic development.

Meanwhile The Key Budget 2014 relative to Architecture and the built environment throws up some interesting numbers:

• $200 million for health sector projects. 
• $198 million for KiwiRail. 
• $172 million for school property expansion. 
• $40 million to invest in irrigation infrastructure.
• $30 million boost to the Social Housing Fund from 2015/16 to help the community housing sector provide homes for high-need families.
• $375 million loan to the New Zealand Transport Agency to kick-start $815 million of Auckland Transport projects, further reducing Auckland congestion.
• $1.1 billion to meet demographic growth and cost pressures.
• $111 million of operating funding to support school property development.
• $15.4 billion Government's contribution to the Christchurch rebuild.
• $53 million to establish three extra Centers of Research Excellence from 2016.

In 2013/14, the value of the Crown’s assets is expected to be $246 billion. By 2017/18, total assets will have grown to $282 billion.

Significant growth in financial assets is forecast. The social portfolio is the single biggest component of the Crown’s assets. Social assets are used to deliver public services, such as state highways, social housing, schools and hospitals.

There is no lack of central government funds being spent on projects with the ability to have a direct affect on outcomes in the built environment. With out the understanding that architects and urban designers add value to that spend directly and indirectly it will be more of the same ? Roads, intensive dairying and fracking, where is the architecture in that equation? 

Sounds good to me one bloke was heard to say as he hoisted his fishing tackle onto the back of his quad bike.

Prefabuliciousness

April 14, 2014

published Architecture NZ http://architecturenow.co.nz/articles/prefabuliciousness/

Robots on the production line

Always one to enjoy the discoveries in meaning and cultural history found in words An interesting one ‘Pre fabrication’ the definition of ‘pre’ before and ‘fabrication’ the act or process of fabricating or manufacture. So then ‘pre fabrication’ the precursor to that which is built, which in my experience always equates, to the dream and a big idea. Think of Noah pre arc, he had a dream. At the recent Prefab NZ conference there were certainly plenty of dreams and big ideas.

Ideas about off site manufacture and industrial manufacture of buildings and elements there of and how they might add value to the NZ culture of building. Pamela Bell has with much aplomb, grace and tenacity, managed to mainstream the concept of offsite fabrication in NZ. She has managed to turn her masters degree thesis into a tool for focusing the industry, revitalizing a poorly packaged idea, creating sector collaboration and political buy in along the way. One could say she has nailed it, off site mostly. Ms Bell’s research driven entrepreneurial approach is in a way a new mode of practice where “building “ is not necessarily the only outcome of architectural investigation.

Pre fab NZ has arrived on the scene at a pivotal time in NZ construction. A perfect storm within the context of  a shifting landscape  of demand for housing in Auckland, the CHCH rebuild, a desperate need to up value primary resources, a demand for increased productivity and for more efficient and better ways of doing things alongside a lack of skills, changing demographics, sustainability agendas,  zero carbon initiatives, compact cities, leaky and EQ prone buildings, affordability, treaty settlements,  competitive markets and technological innovation its all on the table.

Tech innovators love to talk about disruption considered as an idea process or product that changes a market place to the extent all competitors need to pay attention and get with the program. Clay Christensen, a Harvard Business School professor, defined “disruption” as a product that addresses a market that previously couldn’t be served or offers a simpler, cheaper or more convenient alternative to an existing product. The iphone is the obvious example. I would contest prefab has the potential to be a well needed disruption in the building sector.

Another pop phrase from the tech sector, early adoption refers to the market leaders who have the foresight and bravery to embrace new ideas. Those who manage to integrate off site into their projects will be the winners. Its not a new idea just one that is given some traction based on the fulcrum the industry currently balances on. The work been done by Prefab NZ and its crew is a potential catalyst for an industry shift required to answer some of the challenges it currently faces. The innovators are already at the coal face.

Innovation and early adoption leads to mainstream adoption and on goes the cycle driven by research and development, experimentation, big ideas and competition . NZ inc. needs to do better in the R& D space especially regards the building industry.  It would be useful to tie the R&D innovation cycle to that of the Construction boom bust cycle which with the tide coming in, boom on the horizon Pre fab is one innovation with a the finger squarely on the go button. That button happens to be green also which is a great bonus.

There was some good ones at the event. 5468796 Architects illustrated how prefabrication has allowed them to carve a disruptive space in the mostly frozen Winnipeg landscape and that young people are at the pole position to lead.

“Architecture is not a luxury product” its agenda is enviro-social not bling.

Associate Primary Industries Minister Jo Goodhew showed off her own bling in the form of a personal secretary and an effectiveness in maintaining a cyclone of public appearances and words that were in the end only words with no actionable program or commitment from central government to use its buying power to disrupt the market the opportunity will be missed.

Conversely the following speaker Dr Hae Yeon Yoo’s presentation on modular social housing in Seoul South Korea made it explicitly apparent the government had put their money where their mouth was as the primary investor in the front end research and ultimate deployment of 80 000 units of prefabricated product to market.

God is in the data as the new detail and some of the data regards the construction sector to come out of David Chandlers presentation was certainly fuel to the already solid business case for the value of off site fabrication moving forward.

The Global construction sector is forecast to be worth  $15 trillion by 2025 13.2 % of Global GDP Meanwhile Australian Industry in 2012 $255 billion this year NZ should exceed $24 billion.

Mr Chandler presented the Australian construction industry similarly to NZ’s industry in need of a core shift and a need to adopt three core industry strategies that we could also perhaps learn from:

I. Reduce on-site workforce inputs by 30% by 2023

II. Reduce on-site construction durations by 50% by 2023, and

III. Turn around net construction imports of goods and services by 50% by 2023

In 2013 Australia’s Chief Scientist reported The construction industry  “” was challenged by the fact that 94% of Australia’s construction industry is comprised of businesses with 5 or fewer people, and that less than 1% of construction businesses in Australia conduct their own R&D”. He also said, “That by neglecting to conduct our own R&D, we not only reduce the chances we will discover new ideas and develop new innovations before our competitors, we also limit our abilities to accept and use those innovations that are developed elsewhere.” Sounds somewhat familiar .Meanwhile the comparison of the NZ boatbuilding industry and its reliance on factory built product formed a good backdrop for the innovation required in the construction sector generally. Tim Smyth from core builder composites presented a preview of the future in which the same digital fabrication and machines producing Americas Cup Yachts produce Composite building elements from bridges to entire houses  a sentiment reinforced by visiting MIt professor Mark Goulthorpe a longtime advocate of the digital revolution for whom the opportunity rests in the technological edge of polypropylene thermoplastic panels as a  recyclable unitary and monocoque building material, engineered and explicitly factory produced allowing the architect to move from their current  role of “selector and coordinator of ready mades” to idea and form generator via digital means.

Let the ideas people do what there best at the technical people get on with there work and together weave an elaborate story of factory produced awesomeness.

Check out the prefabNZ value case on line http://www.prefabnz.com/News/ValueCase/

Going Coastal

Originally published Bay Buzz Jan 2014

http://www.baybuzz.co.nz/archives/7144/

Cape Coast Te Awanga Hawkes Bay

So what is it with the coast? Why is it some people just end up ‘going coastal’? Some primeval urge to be near the sea? The sound of waves bouncing around in our unconscious, echoes of primeval origins.

The line between land and sea remains tenuous at best. At times welcoming, at others plain frightening … think Anzac Cove or media footage of the Japanese tsunami .

The foreshore is the place where life emerged from a fermenting stew of primordial soup, where cultures collided, where the Queen’s chain rattles. The horizon an omnipresent temptation to travel further, to reach beyond, but also a reminder that the big one may be not be so far away. It’s part of the Kiwi psyche. Aaah! Life at the coast … salty, noisy, prehistoric.

When moving to Hawke’s Bay three years ago it seemed so obvious. Post-global financial crisis urbanity didn’t hold too much appeal measured against an option at the seaside. Why didn’t everyone else do it? They do on the gold coast. Was there some hidden catch?

The specific sound of the Te Awanga surf amplified by the rolling shingle stuck on rinse cycle tapping out an endless rhythm, white noise of the most natural kind. It creates an amplified sense of place.

Research shows that the sound of waves alters wave patterns in the brain, lulling you into a deeply relaxed state. Relaxing in this way can help rejuvenate the mind and body.

Additionally the sea air is also full of negative hydrogen ions, charged particles that improve our ability to absorb oxygen by neutralizing damaging free radicals (positive ions). These negative ions can also balance levels of serotonin, the feel good hormone, making us less prone to anxiety … hence the popularity of seaside holidays and coastal occupation.

A feeling perhaps shared by the venerable James Cook, who visiting what he came to name as Cape Kidnappers on 15^th October 1769 was moved to write in his diary the following account:

“…the Indian Boy Tiata, Tupia’s servant, being over the side, they seized hold of him, pulld him into the boat and endeavourd to carry him off, this obliged us to fire upon them which gave the Boy an opportunity to jump over board and we brought the Ship too, lower'd a boat into the Water and took him up unhurt. Two or Three paid for this daring attempt with the loss of their lives and many more would have suffered had it been for fear of killing the boy—. This affair occation'd my giveing this point of Land the name of Cape Kidnappers: it is remarkable on account of two white rocks in form of Hay Stacks Standing very near it: on each side of the Cape are tollerable high white steep clifts.

The southern most curve of Te Matau O Maui – The hook of Maui – named Cape Kidnappers; but equally could have been named ‘Cape Rescue’ depending on which side of the story you sit. Some how the pawl of that story remains over the landscape. Was it a kidnap or rescue attempt ? Confusion and misunderstanding, has come to be part of the cape coast story inherent in the very naming of the place.Today, the Cape Coast refers to the stretch of coastline extending from Haumoana to Clifton. A unique place, resplendent with natural beauty, cemented in the history of Aotearoa not only by the first European explorers, but by Maui himself, his hook now a permanent feature defining the geography of the bay. The Cape Coast rich in heritage of national significance no doubt.

Those first to occupy the land, the fauna of prehistory, came from the sky, the birds that feature strongly in the iconography of the place and the coast story. The infamous gannets continue to journey here for a yearly stopover, attracting tourist dollars along with them.

The second wave of occupants human, settling in Te Awanga overlooking the sea and Maraetotara river,  their safety also in elevation. Occupation at Tiromoana pa has been carbon dated as far back as the 11th century, one of the earliest identified settlements in the country.

The Cape Coast is now home to a vibrant, diverse, creative community who for whatever reasons have chosen to domicile on this thin strip of dirt. A strip of dirt much maligned and misunderstood by bureaucrats, battered by the elements, loved by locals, tourists, explorers and day-trippers alike.

In a certain sense there is a great freedom in being a coast dweller … Black Bridge demarking the point of no return. Freedom to unwind on a daily basis, to wander the shoreline, to collect treasures, encouraging a child-like freedom to dream.

So what is the collective dream for the coast? Is there one? Does it need one? Is the place fine just how it is, or could there be improvements? If so, what needs to happen and who is steering the waka?

The coast in a word: dynamic

In reality the Cape Coast is a genuinely unique piece of NZ landscape and culture that deserves a genuine commitment from those in positions of public trust bestowed with the responsibility of kaitiakitanga. Commitment to creating solutions to some endemic problems in order that confidence  and investment in the area can be reignited.

The coast in one word is dynamic. Not just the physical nature of the landscape and ecology, but the people who have been attracted to life on the edge, sea level rise be damned, a glass of blush in hand, a crayfish passed over a fence, just don’t drop in on my wave and we’ll all get along.

The floating trailer is a unique invention; its cultural value needs to be celebrated. It is representative of the type of character who lives on the coast and the type of solutions that can be found for unique problems. The old school Burt Munroe approach to getting things done. Just do it, make it work and get on with it.

I don’t know how many reports have been commissioned over the years to address coastal issues. The coast is a dynamic living ecology. It is a natural system that is in perpetual state of flux forever looking to achieve balance. As such, it is as much a part of the rivers that feed the Bay as it is a part of the ocean ecology and its cycles of tides and weather. It bridges the worlds of land and sea and as such supports life in a thin precarious strip.  

A report recently commissioned by the regional council, addressing heightened expectations of sea level rise, has highlighted the risks involved in not proactively managing the costal environment in a holistic fashion.

One elephant in the room when it comes to coastal erosion is the quarrying of shingle being done at Awatoto. The report highlights the significant impact this activity has on the southern coast. Winstone Aggregates has secured resource consents for gravel extraction till 2017. This will help satisfy the annual demand of every New Zealander for eight tonnes of aggregates. The issue of gravel extraction has been skirted around in other reports over the years, but it seems only natural that if you remove 30,000 cubic meters of shingle from Awatoto, maybe another 30,000 cubic meters might want to fill that hole!

Perhaps what is needed for the coast is a regional paradigm shift. Professor Paul Komar, professor emeritus from the ocean sciences college of Oregon State University, who as a HBRC consultant has studied our coast more than most, offers one:

“Putting a stop to extraction would mean the coast would stabilise the gravel beaches south of Napier as far as Haumoana … The beach is the buffer. You want as strong a buffer as possible between you and the rising sea levels. It just makes sense not to extract gravel from the sand and beaches."

If the aggressive mining of the coastal shingle is partly responsible for coastal erosion on the Cape Coast, then what of the plans for the Ruataniwha dam? The rivers cannot be separated from the ecology of the coast. They are one and the same.

The sooner the paradigm shifts to embrace a whole system approach to environmental management, the sooner we can start emptying those tourists’ pockets of their cash. It has to be an easier way of milking foreign currency than connecting Betsy to the milking machine every morning and evening.  

Top down or bottom up ?

New Zealand has 14,000 kilometres of coastline, the tenth-longest in the world. Hawke’s Bay has 353 kilometres. There is no doubt that with sea level rise imminent, coastal management is not only a regional issue, but a national imperative. With one metre of sea level rise now forecast by 2100, we will need some significant Burt Munroe-style innovation. There is no time like the present.

The New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement (NZCPS) sits at the head of the table as directive for district and regional councils on how to manage the coast in their jurisdiction. That policy, as excerpted below, sets the stage for how local and regional government has historically missed the mark when it comes to delivery of what these bodies are charged with … guardianship.

NZCPS Policy 15: Natural features and natural landscapes

To protect the natural features and natural landscapes (including seascapes) of the coastal environment from inappropriate subdivision, use, and development:

Recognise that tangata whenua have traditional and continuing cultural relationships with areas of the coastal environment, including places where they have lived and fished for generations.

A long conversation with Darkie (Mick) Huahie, 83 year-old kamatua from Matahiwi marae, and Jacob Scott, both long-term residents of Haumoana with whanau connections back generations brings alive the richness and complexity of the history of the Haumoana/Te Awanga area. The lack of sympathy for local knowledge regarding management of the environment over the years is astounding. Who better to contribute to the understanding of the ecology than those who have witnessed it over a lifetime, in conjunction with inherited stories stretching generations.

“The river was our supermarket. We didn’t need to go into the shops. The fish we caught fed pakeha families as well as Maori”  Says Darkie Huahi

NZCPS Policy 27: Strategies for protecting significant existing development from coastal hazard risk

…recognizing that hard protection structures may be the only practical means to protect existing infrastructure of national or regional importance, to sustain the potential of built physical resources to meet the reasonably foreseeable needs of future generations…

The Regional Council and the Hastings District Council also have their own coastal policies – the Hawke’s Bay Regional Coastal Environment Plan and the Coastal Environment Strategy, respectively.

“Hastings District has an extensive coastline covering some 78 kilometres. The Coastal Environment contains a complex mix of natural and built features, as well as significant cultural, heritage and recreational values, which the Hastings community needs to manage in a comprehensive and sustainable manner.”

We are lucky to have in Hawke’s Bay a beautiful, enchanting landscape. The definition of landscape has come to include also culture. The sustainability of the culture of the coast is as vital as the landscape itself; the two cannot be separated. We are also lucky to have a district policy regarding “landscapes of significance;” the Cape Coast is highlighted as one such landscape. Significant not just because of the natural beauty, but for cultural reasons as well.

The imperative of any coastal protection policy is then one of cultural protection as well as land. Land is more tangible and easier to put a number on; culture is more difficult yet the culture that the coast supports is readily evident on any day of the week when the weather and the tides are cooperating. Surfing, fishing, kai gathering, beach fires, motorcycle riding or just going for a walk

Sadly, the Haumoana to Clifton coast is used in a university-level geography class as an illustration of how things can go horribly wrong with process. If progress is to be made, there needs to be a breakthrough in what seems to have become a stalemate. Meetings being undertaken for the community planning process have not been well attended; perhaps something tantamount to coast issue and consultation burnout is occurring. Just as the sea cannot breach a well-engineered wall, the local community has not over the years surmounted the formidablecouncil decision-making processes.

The question is now how to reinvent the process as an example of best practice. The value of intergenerational local knowledge about a place cannot be underestimated. Stories, common sense and tested solutions are where discussions need to start. A top heavy process has the potential to morph into a shinning example of bottom up, community lead and solution focused action. Just like the gravel moving northward its a matter of finding the line of least resistance.

Perfect opportunity

The coastal management, planning and policy space is very busy on the Cape Coast at the minute.

Community plans are being authored, subdivision and development plans refined. There seems to be a perfect storm of opportunity brewing that may provide the catalyst to put aside any bad blood that has been generated over the years and deal once and for all proactively and collaboratively with the key issues that need to be resolved on the Cape Coast. Now is an opportunity for an integrated, inclusive push with a ‘Yes, we can!’ approach to getting things done. 

Much planning is in process, with many inter-related issues and activities on the table:

·      The ongoing debate over the groynes their design and cost.

·      Gravel extraction from rivers and the foreshore and their affect on coastal erosion.

·      The Ruataniwha Dam and potential effect on the bay of Tukituki River flows and health.

·      The Hastings District Plan review proposing rubber-stamping areas for development both in Te Awanga and Haumoana.

·      Master plans and design controls required for proposed development areas.

·      The HDC community plan currently being authored as a non-statutory guide to frame community lead actions and projects. 

·      Work to preserve road access to Clifton Motor camp and the boat ramp.

·      The possibility of a managed retreat or relocation of the Clifton camp to a nearby location.

·      Ongoing resilience of septic tank systems as waste management for the area.

·      Continued work on the National Cycleway running through the area.

·      Consistent spectacular output from local vineyards and associated restaurants.

·      Ongoing coastal access to Cape Kidnappers itself and the gannet colony.

·      The fabulous species restoration work at the Cape Sanctuary project.

·      The Clifton County Cricket Club planting of natives at their home turf in the hills behind Te Awanga.

Coastal dreaming

What is the collective dream for the coast? Walk on Water (WOW) and the Cape Coast Community Group (CCCG), with wide community support, in 2010 created a strategic vision for the coast. The document was used as a submission to the Hastings Council’s Long Term Plan. It included a rebranding of Haumoana, Te Awanga, Clifton and Cape Kidnappers under the descriptive term ‘The Cape Coast – Giving Hawke’s Bay an Edge’.

WOW has worked tirelessly to develop the profile for the community, as well as solutions to the biggest elephant in the room – coastal erosion and hard engineering as an effective and economic solution. The basic premise of the WOW group needs to be the basis of further action:

The Cape Coast is a regional recreational asset, used by people from all across Hawke’s Bay and is a prime visitor location. It has a rich and colourful past steeped in Maori and European history and an amazing future as a centre for tourism, hospitality and the creative arts if it is given the chance to show its true potential.

The key words are ‘regional’ and ‘potential’. The WOW document maintains its legitimacy and thankfully now can be incorporated into the community planning process. For WOW spokesman Keith Newman, the biggest issue still facing the coast is coastal protection via a groyne field. The key to achieving this is recognition of the regional value and importance of the coast.

Meanwhile, there has been no real major storm event since Easter 2010 and thus no real media coverage of life out here on the edge. Summer is upon us with long enjoyable days by, in or on the sea. The boat ramp is open again and kai stocks have been replenished. Increasing numbers of bikers roll past on a weekly basis. Properties continue to come on the market and sell. Insurance companies are still dubious about some high-risk properties on the wrong side of the invisible lines demarking the coastal hazard zones.

 “One of the factors that can influence price is a perception that a property is affected by a stigma, in the case of Hawke’s Bay coastal property the influence of Coastal Hazard Zones potential effects on property rights.” HBRC coastal value report

The tide comes in and goes out. The gentle waves lull us into a sense of security. The inevitable consequences of sea level rise and changing weather patterns parked out of mind for now. Let’s hope that between now and the next ‘event’ a positive pathway for the coastal community and the authorities to work through their differences is charted.

BOX

How do the politicians see it?

Regional Councillor Peter Beaven:

The coastline needs to be preserved; bottom line, it is too important to take a ‘do nothing’ or ‘wait and see’ approach. We can’t get fixated on the preservation of  a few houses only, but need to be looking at the big picture even beyond Haumoana, Te Awanga, Clifton to include the whole Coastline of the Bay.

There is immediacy to this with new information coming in through revision to the Komar report. Most importantly, we need to preserve the road access that is the lifeline for the coastal community as well as the tourism opportunities that the road opens up. There is an opportunity by being proactive that we don’t want too miss.

We need to be taking a ‘whole of coast’ view and that means understanding the effect of gravel extraction at Awatoto and other locations as well as understanding the effect of the Dam proposal on gravel dispersal via the Tukituki. It may mean quarrying of river stone is halted in order to stop down stream affects.

The Regional Council and HDC need to be working together  with the community to create that strategic plan for the area. 

Hastings Councillor Rod Heaps

The issue most in need of resolution is coastal erosion. We are investing in things like the place-based plan, but without nailing the coastal erosion issue it might be for nought.

It really is a time to put a positive spin on this. Processes have been caught in a negativity … I’m not sure from where.

With new blood in the regional council and new eyes hopefully we can achieve positive outcomes.

The engineering of groynes has been shown to work; the science says if we don’t do anything the risks associated with global warming will be amplified. If the science says stop the gravel extraction that’s what we need to do.

There has been a recent change of tide at the Hastings District Council regards dealing with the coast in a more positive manner and I am happy about that.

I stand behind the Te Awanga Community when it comes to development. There was an overwhelming outcry against it and that needs to be listened to.