MIT Manukau Tertiary Campus
1MIT’s new Manukau Tertiary Centre and Transportation Interchange was an exciting landmark project—and a key strategic development for MIT. The project is located around and over the new Manukau Train Station, one of the busiest and most important transport links in Auckland city.
The vision for the project was ambitious and forward-looking, aiming to increase the awareness of and accessibility to tertiary education in Manukau: a region where education rates are some of the lowest in New Zealand.
2The design of the campus building is fully integrated into the train station, with rail patrons getting a great view into the tertiary education space as they enter and exit the station. The building itself provides a large number of open plan learning spaces, reflecting the changing teaching philosophy of modern learning institutions. MIT Manukau is also designed to be extremely flexible for future changes to teaching styles or needs, with large column-free spaces maximising adaptability with the minimum of cost and disruption.
3The building exterior features an exposed structural steel dia-grid frame, which allows for a column free facade line inside the building, and provides a modern feel to exterior aesthetic of the building – in keeping with the institute’s technology roots. The structure is comprised of three seismically separated buildings surrounding a broad central atrium.
4Due to the constraint of the existing rail station trench, a large proportion of the structure is required to overhang the station, with support coming from hangers to the atrium roof trusses above. The construction sequencing and temporary works associated with these hanging structures required close collaboration with the contractor to ensure the building could be constructed efficiently and safely. MIT is a visually impressive, highly functional building – a great example of a project where clever engineering can support and enable the design vision.
