Award archive
The Benson-Cooper Sustainability Awards were established in 2007 by the Benson-Cooper family of Napier, the awards aim to recognise innovative exploration into the potential of creative design and technical expertise as solutions that strive towards sustainable future.
Below are the award recipients for 2007-2008 and 2009 with images of their designs and an explanation of each of the projects. The designs featured below can be enlarged by clicking on each individual image.
2009 recipients
Categories:
The following entry has been awarded the supreme award:
"Lifestyle - design proposal solar decathlon"
Group project by Anna Farrow, Ben Jagersma, Eli Nuttall and Nick Officer
The Lifestyle proposal personifies the New Zealand cultural identity through the renaissance of the iconic Kiwi bach. Key aesthetic, functional, programmatic and atmospheric qualities of the traditional bach helped inform the design outcome of this project.
Environmental control systems have been integrated to further enhance the architecture and create a sustainably autonomous structure. These systems address every aspect of the day-to-day running of a four person family home and promote a new way of life that is sympathetic to the surrounding environment.
This project successfully brings the Kiwi bach into the 21st century, utilising appropriate and innovative technologies to create a truly autonomous and sustainable way of living.
The following entries have been awarded excellence awards:
"Guidelines for making VUW Faculty of Architecture and Design carbon neutral through minimising its reliance on carbon offsets"
Project by Soo Ryu
Soo’s detailed research into the carbon neutrality of the Faculty of Architecture and Design has revealed the importance of boundaries. For instance, travel to and from the School has more impact on the environment than energy use within it or waste produced by staff and students.
The examination of the boundaries used when measuring sustainability helps advance views of what makes a sustainable building far beyond the usual additions of solar panels or waste sorting bins. Soo provides us with a visualisation of the ecological impact arising from decisions made by staff and students within the School.
This original work, based upon carefully calculated ‘ecological footprints’, is offered as an aid to assist everyday decision making. For example, choosing to behave in a more ecologically responsible manner here in New Zealand can help provide a higher standard of living in less developed, less wealthy countries.
The methods Soo discusses within her research are universal and could be used in numerous other fields to help guide New Zealanders to a more sustainable way of living.
"Museum of Ephemera"
Project by Nazia Kachwalla
Nazia’s brief was to redesign the Museum of City and Sea, right here in New Zealand’s capital city. The success of her work centres on its ability to maintain the integrity of the existing structure, reinterpreting the building’s historic elements to ensure preservation.
Conceived and executed as a veritable treatise on the nature and advantages of concrete, the project skillfully integrates new technologies, utilising precast light-weight concrete.
The past, present and future of concrete are discussed as the research investigates not only how concrete technologies have developed, but also the possibilities concrete offers as it ages.
Having established a clear intention of re-use within the major elements of the external redevelopment, the project deploys these ideas once again when detailing the plans for the internal exhibition spaces. The methods and technologies Nazia uses provide flexible and creative opportunities for the curator of future exhibitions within a structure that encourages recycling, embraces the existing and incorporates the future.
"Changing dystopia - the green community"
Group project by Nicholas Brown, Cameron Hurrel, Clayton Prest and Henry Velvin
The city of Wellington is in constant dialogue with its surrounding landscape. As a reflection and reinterpretation of Aotea Quay’s steep backdrop, our design blends into and develops the Wellington setting. Houses cut into the land, communicate the integration of built and natural topographies and step down from towards an open public plaza: the ‘Urban Bay’.
The logistical requirements of a flood-prone site have led to the creation of a variety of new levels and spaces, tailored to both buildings and open spaces. An in-built underground tunnel system is unobtrusive and provides easy access for maintenance. Domestic grey-water and storm-water is carried through filters and bio-septic tanks which purify it for re-use. The site also contains pedestrian tunnels to help reduce transportation costs.
The creation of levels allows for innovative use of rain collection, thermal massing and passive underground heating systems. Wellington’s wind energy is harnessed by mounting vertical axis turbines above streetlights.
The design offers a uniquely topographical way of creating an efficient, green, attractive community and public space and connects Wellington’s surrounding suburbs to its waterfront. The site’s features are highly adaptable and serve as an advertisement for regenerative schemes throughout New Zealand.
The following entries have been awarded merit awards:
"The simple life - a bach for the 21st century"
Project by Anna Farrow
Can the traditional Kiwi bach maintain its status as a cultural icon in the 21st century? This research looked at whether or not the bach has the potential to evolve and adapt and remain relevant in the modern world.
In order to do this, it was important to try and understand the bach’s cultural standing in the nation’s psyche, both now and in the past, and identify the direction it would need to take remain contemporary.
Nowadays, to ‘get away’, Kiwis are travelling further and delving deeper into the country’s wilderness. To avoid additional environmental degradation and preserve the nation’s ecology for future generations, the bach must become self-sufficient.
In an innovative design these characteristics, combined with environmental technologies such as solar energy conversion, will enable a reinterpretation of the much loved Kiwi bach, protecting its tradition and allowing its continued evolution into the 21st century.
This report presented the necessary considerations and recommendations for such an evolution, creating a design guide for the 21st century bach.
"Organic Solar"
Project by Nick Officer
The Solar Decathlon is a cross-faculty initiative dedicated to research on solar energy. It helped draw our attention to one of our planet’s most pressing needs: clean, renewable energy.
The main objective of the solar-energy industry has always been to produce products that convert sunlight into electricity efficiently, economically and sustainably. Recent developments have allowed the creation of solar cells based on organic principles. These new organic cells are essentially plastic, making them substantially lighter, more flexible and easier to mould and colour, as well as being unrestricted in size and shape.
The impacts of this new development are far reaching. Solar power has the potential to generate large quantities of clean energy that doesn’t contribute to global warming. However, without vast amounts of affordable energy storage, solar power cannot hope to challenge fossil fuels as the main source of our planet’s energy.
The challenge is to produce fuel cheaply and efficiently and entice users away from using energy dependant upon coal, oil and gas. This is not an unrealistic goal. The conversion of sunlight into energy by plants, using photosynthesis, is something most of us are familiar with. Artificially mimicking this process could result in the homes of tomorrow being powered through the cleanest energy available.
"Smart homes - an environmental perspective"
Project by Ben Jagersma
The notion of a technologically advanced ‘smart home’ has been around, albeit in many different forms, for more than a century. The ‘homes of the future’ were imagined as places of seamless automation and convenience, where comfort and reduced responsibility are the drivers of new technology. However, as this research demonstrates, these idealistic smart homes ultimately cater for an unsustainable lifestyle.
This research challenges the current perception of the smart home and suggests that it is not quite as smart as the name suggests. Global warming, environmental degradation and the depletion of natural resources threaten our planet. As a result, we are beginning to witness massive changes in architecture and, consequently, re-evaluating the concept of the ‘home of the future’.
‘Sustainable design’ is forcing architects and designers to focus their attentions on building optimally and efficiently and re-examine the role of the home and technology.
This research explores a new breed of smart homes that are still intelligent and automated, but now also highly efficient, giving people more control over resources and waste. These homes use technology and simple, sustainable design to reduce energy use and lower costs. Better for the environment and better for the individual. These are the new smart homes of the future.
"PCM - passive heating and cooling"
Project by Eli Nuttall
Finding a solution to 'sick home syndrome' was the catalyst for this project. Sick building syndrome afflicts many older or low cost homes in New Zealand. The key contributing factors of this problem are insufficient heating and poor ventilation.
Research into the fundamental principles of thermal comfort has seen the development of 'radiant systems', which allows sufficient ventilation in addition to heating and cooling.
The sustainability objectives of this project were twofold; to promote a better quality or comfort and health in lower income family homes and to develop solutions that are energy efficient and environmentally sustainable.
Recent advances in the field of 'phase change materials' (PCM) have led to the development of a potentially inexpensive and highly efficient means of radiant heating and cooling. This has helped pave the way for a number of innovative domestic and commercial service solutions.
"Filtered landscapes"
Project by Hanna O'Donoghue
This project focuses on ‘future thinking’, based upon the productive capacity of land use and patterns of contemporary consumption.
Hanna’s research spotlights Otaki, a place with great natural resources and productive land, but with a high wastage of nutrients. This project responds to these factors in the form of a ‘hub’ where waste products are essentially recycled and transferred back into the land, revitalising the soil. Facilitating the management of waste means fruits and vegetables can be provided at a very low cost.
Three main types of waste are processed in the hub. Storm water and runoff from the Otaki region is gravitationally channelled and enters the hub through a filtration process which allows it to be used in hydroponic systems. Bio-waste, such as food scraps, are collected weekly from the community and used as compost. Diluted effluent is purified, allowing nutrients to be extracted and used as fertiliser.
The hub also provides areas for growing produce, education and recreation. Walkways are built within the hub and systems are left exposed in certain areas to stimulate public awareness.
The hub presents a number of practical solutions to problems caused by land-use patterns in rural communities. The outcome offers successful methods for waste re-use and provides long-term economical and educational benefits.
"A dunny and performance space on the waterfront"
Project by James Patullo
This project explores the idea of sustainability in New Zealand through an investigation into Wellington’s waterfront.
Whilst exploring the capital’s seafront, James noticed that the space underneath the wharf was not being fully utilised. Recognising the potential for sustainable development, he immediately thought of developing floating structures, known as pontoons, which could both enhance and make use of the vacant space.
The pontoons are made from recyclable materials, such as plastic bottles and bags, scrap metal, polystyrene, rubber and wood. Each has a slightly different mass to produce the different buoyancies needed in this design.
The need for recycled materials sees James question where the material needed for his project could be acquired. Rather than rely on recycling stations, James has placed a recycling bin at the site – encouraging Wellingtonians to get involved: “This way the public can build on the design using their own rubbish.”
The objective is to make people experience a journey over a surface that isn’t concrete, a surface made by the community. The pontoons are not simply aesthetic pleasures; they supply regenerative electrical power to many of the lights along the waterfront using the Salter Duck system.
This design is attractive, transferable and practical and will help promote the principles of sustainable design to a wider audience.
The following entries have been awarded special dean's merit awards:
"Retreat for an astronomer and geologist"
Project by Grace Mills
This project was inspired by the idea of creating a South Island retreat for the living and working needs of someone who is both an astrologist and a geologist. The design explores humans’ connection with the land and how architecture can both respond to and complement the natural environment without detriment.
The resulting design incorporates several sustainable design innovations. The retreat reaches out from the mountainside, simultaneously resisting and connecting with the landscape with minimal interference. A green roof and biofiltration system, together with water tube solar panels, reflect the remoteness of the site and offset the difficulties of providing a fresh water supply to the area.
The particularities of both geology and astronomy and how they might intersect were crucial in the design of the interior spaces which echo the structure’s environment and provide a sense of time and wear to the design. One example of the building’s originality is an internal hollow wall which, when filled with the geologist’s leftover earth samples, becomes progressively insulated.
The use of recycled materials, such as demolition timber from the local town, and the mountain location itself are mirrored in the presentation of the design which uses recycled folders, oriented at an angle, to challenge the norm in favour of a more unusual and creative approach.
"Re-Wall"
Project by Erica Brouard
Timber off-cuts are abundant on many building sites. Many off-cuts will be re-used wherever possible, however, because of boron treatment, much of the wood is unsuitable for fuel or garden mulch and is often dumped in a landfill.
Now, an interior-wall product has been developed using off-cuts from boron treated timber studs. The result is a textural wall panel of varying wood grains, without the toxic glues of other products, such as plywood. This new product divides and distributes the mass of each off-cut by slicing it into thin slivers. The aim is to utilise the mass within each block of wood to create the maximum surface area.
Re-wall up-cycles treated timber waste to create an attractive interior wall lining. Panels can be easily removed and relocated to extend the product’s life cycle. The increased surface area allows the strength of the boron treatment to lessen over time and no additional chemicals are added.
Re-wall extends the life of the wood and smooths the route to bioremediation at the very end of the product’s life.
This is a product ready to enter the building market. It already has a brand name, is easy to create and can be utilised in many interior situations. An imprinted logo is an optional effect, communicating the recycled nature of the materials.
2007-2008 recipients
Categories:
The following entry has been awarded the supreme award:
"Pohe island environment centre"
Project by Scott McKenzie
The 2007 Benson-Cooper Supreme Award for sustainable design practice was awarded to Scott McKenzie for the Pohe Island Environment Centre.
Turning a disused landfill on 54-hectare Pohe Island in Northland into a vibrant environmental education centre was central to this winning design. The concept accommodates local government and community group needs, providing office space, a lecture theatre and a plant nursery to regenerate the neglected island.
Opportunities for public education are incorporated throughout the centre. A glass wall provides a glimpse into the waste buried below and visitors can walk past the methane-powered electricity generator, which feeds unused power back into the national grid.
A nursery links two buildings to encourage easy access for school groups or the public to participate in the regeneration process, and the office block is naturally lit with automated ventilation and passive thermal control.
The following entries have been awarded excellence awards:
"Upper Hutt Community Library"
Project by Delle Benton
Returning to the roots of Upper Hutt’s history, a time when dense totara forests covered the valley floor, inspired this concept for an Upper Hutt community library.
Aesthetically, the design uses exposed timber columns and beams and etched glass to create the canopies layers found in a forest. Portable recycled timber screens provide shade when needed, and an insulated-foundation provides warmth in winter.
All elements of the building are bolted, clamped or crafted so they can be adjusted to suit future needs.
Included in the building is a ‘tree library’ or nursery, where native plants can be cared for, borrowed and shared between the community.
Other sustainable functions include a rainwater tank for the nursery and a shower block for those who walk or bike to get there.
"In between city and sea"
Project by Fran Loader
The design brief for this project was to create a solar heated tidal pool that mediated a link between the City and Sea. From an aesthetic point of view the reuse of shipping containers as the main building material for the pool created a quirky visual link between the industrial port of Wellington on the northern side of the Harbour and the residential Roseneath peninsular on the southern side.
Designed for the harsh maritime environment the use of discarded shipping containers seemed a logical and sustainable response to the design brief given. The modular nature of the containers also allowed for an interesting exploration of form and layout.
The pool design also utilized a saw tooth roof that integrated solar hot water heating and rainwater collection. The rainwater collected from the roof was filtered then pumped back up to the roof to be heated by the solar collectors before being used in the small indoor pool. Over flow from the pools were then feed into the exterior tidal pools before being filtered through a bio-organic swale filter and then released into the harbour.
Water from the roof was also integrated into a grey water system in the bathrooms and showers.
"xyt:"
Project by Nick Jones
This design presents a socially and environmentally sustainable strategy to adapt to sea-level rise at Wellington’s Lyall Bay. Using existing infrastructure and land-use patterns, opportunities are presented to retain the beloved Lyall Bay beach while preparing the surrounding area for the climatic changes ahead.
To retain the ecologically and socially valuable beach, without expending vast carbon emissions ‘re-filling’ the beach, a ever-migrating buffer is created through the re-use of material salvaged from the demolition which preceded it.
Existing storm water management systems are retrofit to cope with higher flows and roads revised to higher ground. A post-suburban park is included for community use and recreation.
Rather than developing new visions of ways to save carbon and new buildings and infrastructure to do so, this design aligns planning and infrastructure-decisions with long-term effectiveness to provide a genuine reduction in emissions.
"Corn Cob Heavy Metal Filter"
Project by Stephen Gueze
Using the readily available agricultural waste resource of maize or corn cobs, this design creates a storm water filter or remediation system arsenic-polluted industrial sites.
Corn cobs can absorb and store heavy chemicals such as zinc and even uranium. The filter is enhanced through the use of aquatic plans such as watercress in an imitation wetland, further absorbing and breaking down the pollutants in the corn cob matter.
Needing only sun and a polluted solution, the filter’s potential as an alternative filtering process for drinking water, sewage treatment or other forms of industrial waste is vast.
The following entries have been awarded merit awards:
"In between earth and sky"
Project by Paul McCardle
A self sufficient sabbatical retreat for University researchers in the disciplines of astronomy and geology has been designed to foster research in a special part of the world – an observatory site above Lake Tekapo.
Without losing form to function, the residence contains a field laboratory, a personal observatory, a comfortable residence and an exhibition area to display research results.
Numerous measures for sustainability have been incorporated into the building including:
- wind turbine to generate electricity
- solar river collects the sun’s radiation for internal heating
- snow pillows and snow melt cables to direct water run-off into solar river
- water tanks for grey water and rain water
- solar panels to generate electricity
- large double windows to maximise levels of natural light without sacrificing heat
- heat locks to ensure cold air does not travel between rooms.
- interior garden
- head pumps for back up in colder winter months
- dual half flush toilets to reduce water usage.
"Retreat for geologist and astronomer"
Project by Sarah Park
An aesthetic, functional and sustainable retreat for geologists and astronomers on the remote Mt John, near Lake Tekapo in Canterbury, was presented in this design.
Climate-specific construction techniques have been used such as earth filled structural walls and trombe walls to store heat on the north façade, a south facing façade with minimal openings, recycled timber and passive solar design through location.
Aesthetic features include locally-sourced granite for feature walls, an interior staircase and gradually levelled floors to connect the earth and the sky and landscape design, which also protects the south side against harsh winter winds.
This design explores how sustainable buildings need not come at a cost to design freedoms and creativity, and can be integrated into the creation of the building itself and not tacked on at the end.
"re: cycling, the Wellington connection"
Project by Simon Stantiall
A cycle corridor to increase the numbers and safety of this sustainable transport choice for Wellington’s residents and tourists alike was explored in this design.
Linking three high-volume sites between Point Jerningham, Cobham Drive and the Airport to the Railway Station, the design provides connectivity from suburb to city but also heightens and diversifies the experience through design. The cycle network has the potential to be extended throughout Wellington over time.
The network will use existing infrastructure with points of interest to transform a mundane and inefficient transport corridor. Consideration was given to integrate the cycle corridor with other forms of sustainable transport modes used by residents and visitors.
Promotional material, such as webcams and website, will be used to advise, monitor and
"Nubukalau"
Project by Jamie Roberts
Whilst ‘panarchy’ is difficult to control, as a concept it has great potential for exploration in landscape architecture. This thesis position examines ‘panarchy’ as it relates to Fiji’s current political and environmental condition. The site chosen for this was Nubukalou Creek, in the capital, Suva.
Over the course of last century, Nubukalou Creek made a significant contribution to the development of the city of Suva. It became one of Suva’s postcard destinations and was for a time known as the ‘Venice of the South Pacific’ due to its iconic colonnade edge along part of the urbanised lower third of the creek.
It is proposed that these groups, many of which have their central offices within the Nubukalou catchment, become agents in the physical making of a landscape, influencing both environmental and political conditions around Nubukalou Creek and having cross scale effects at regional and national levels.
"BioLamp"
Project by Holly Beals
With the aim to reduce the amount of electricity in the home between dusk and nightfall, the bio-lamp provides a temporary unique glow from bioluminescent bacteria.
Using bacteria to capture and transmit light, the panelled lamp uses phyllotaxis (a spiralling branching pattern in leaves) to distribute light.
