WELLINGTON ORIENTAL BAY PAVILION

Hills of Connectivity: A Creative Exhibition Space, Wellington New Zealand

Our design for the Creative Exhibition Centre begins with a desire to return to the coastline an iconic landmark and a well-loved public space.

The building must be both formally interesting and must serve as a multi-function event space. It must sit comfortably at the edge between the city and the waterfront. It must allow people to embrace the urbanism of the waterfront and acknowledge the natural beauty of the existing site.

The design we have proposed emerges as a topographic mimicry of the surrounding hills. It inserts itself onto the site as an extension of the beachfront. Its form is both organic and urban-like all at once.

The design begins as a planar surface that negotiates the levels between water, beach and coastal road.  It wells up into hill-like mounds where functional spaces need to be catered for. The hill-like mounds are detached to allow for an unobstructed access and views towards the waterfront.

The planar language of the platforms carries itself up onto the building elevation as horizontal fins and louvers.

This architectural expression provides sun shading to the interior spaces of the Creative Exhibition Centre. The sloped hill-like façade serves to reflect the topography of the surrounding terrain while also creating a sculptural appeal for the overall form. The form seeks to connect with both the landscape and the city all at once.

In between these ambiguous associations, we hope to reconnect the city with the landscape, history with memory and urbanism with poetry.