2021 Southern Architecture Awards Winner
University of Otago Dental School
The revitalisation of this existing modernist building acknowledges its pedigree by replicating the geometry of the original curtain wall in a new street façade, while retaining the original facing into the new atrium. This atrium, which inserts itself full-height between the existing building and new extension, floods daylight into both interiors. Bridges across the atrium at all levels allow orientation and connection between the different parts of the school, while enabling informal chance encounters. Intense white surfaces further enhance the brilliance of the interior, while also recalling the ‘whiter than white’ toothpaste commercials of the past.