Scoop: Work has begun on new Law and Management Building on Hillcrest Road.
Earthworks are underway for the University’s new Law and Management Building.
From a crew of fewer than a dozen workers who will be involved in site establishment activities, numbers will grow to at least 50 as subcontractors involved in surveying, earthworks and underground services commence work on the site.
Work on the $20 million-plus building, which was designed by Opus International Consultants, is scheduled to take 16-18 months. Fletcher Construction won the contract for the work and will be implementing traffic and noise management systems during the build.
The new Law and Management building will house Te Piringa - Faculty of Law and Waikato Management School's Centre for Corporate and Executive Education, as well as student services.
Impressive design
The Law and Management building will have a five-storey office tower and rooms at a below-ground level that will feature a "living lawn" roof. The tower will have vertical sunshade vanes to symbolise the tukutuku reed panels of a traditional meeting house, natural ventilation, and glazed corridor walls for natural lighting. The tower will be linked below ground level to the existing Management building on Hillcrest Road – beside the lower entrance to the PWC lecture theatre at level 1, and between the existing computer labs at level 0.
New teaching rooms, offices, interview/meeting rooms, a boardroom, computer labs, student services and reception areas are all part of the design, as are a moot courtroom and sunken courtyard.
Design emphasis has been on creating light, spacious, open areas for working and studying in, and for making the building as energy-efficient as possible.