Hutt Valley High School’s long-awaited new creative technology hub opened with an early morning blessing and great anticipation for the new learning spaces.
We were delighted to attend the opening of the MHA designed new block in late May. Delivered through a design-build partnership with Hawkins Construction the facility replaces a former leaky building and brings the school’s performance and food technology spaces back into the heart of the campus.
Our design team worked closely with cultural leader Kura Moeahu and Len Hetet of Wai Whenua to develop a strong visual language for both exterior and interior spaces that acknowledged the site’s mana whenua and grounded the design in the Hutt Valley community.
The new learning environments are engaging and highly functional, housing areas that are not naturally co-located. Acoustic challenges between functions are managed with high performing structures and finishes allowing flexibility in the use of adjacent spaces.
The new hub delivers a carefully crafted response to the school’s learning, identity and community imperatives while aligning to the Ministry of Education expectations for efficiency and value for money.
