Hobsonville Point Primary School

Hobsonville Primary School is New Zealand ‘s first PPP (public private partnership) project and perhaps the most significant Ministry of Education project yet. ASC Architects/Hawkins Construction were commissioned to design, construct and manage for 25 years, two schools with a combined population of 1,600 students. This project was won in competition against local and international consortia. The school is significantly different to other New Zealand schools in terms of construction quality, building performance and effectiveness as twenty first century learning environments. The key architectural innovations achieved in this project centre around a response to the MOE ‘s visions of Modern Learning Environments. The site layout and building form reinforces the RNZAF history of the greater site.

This is expressed in the main entry which forms part of the public entry plaza and is aligned with the original edge of the airport runway.

The design approach is deliberately, where the objective is to create delight and playfulness resulting in inviting and transparent spaces, giving the school a significant civic presence. Innovations are focused on making learning interior and exterior environments enquiry based learning which is regarded internationally as educational best practice. These learning environments are open and non-restrictive allowing spaces to be customised for different teaching purposes. The school has achieved a five star Greenstar built rating, however the quality of acoustics, natural
light, ventilation and outdoor environments are far above the standard of any public school previously built in New Zealand. The benefit of this marked improvement in the functional and aesthetic qualities of this school, we hope, will more likely engender community respect and engagement usually reserved for other public amenities such as libraries and museums, but most importantly, the kinds of forward looking educational practices this building can support are its core function.