Ella McKay from Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington School of Architecture is a finalist for her project 'Plain and Simple'.
Project description
The regional city of Hastings sits inland, on the Heretaunga plains, and without the benefit of a significant natural feature. The city is formed in a grid parallel to the rolling hills – Te Mata Peak and the distant Kaweka Ranges – on the outskirts. The urban edge is framed by a patchwork quilt of orchards and paddocks. The beauty of the region resides outside of the city.
The dominating visual presence within the city is the Wattie’s factory, an industrial eyesore and an anomaly within the grid. The factory site spans a kilometre through the city centre, creating a physical impediment to the wider landscape and limiting pedestrian connections within the city. This project takes an urban architectural approach in the re-purposing of a large industrial site to revitalise a regional city. It dreams of urban possibilities to reconnect and give back to a city where height is privileged.
Jury citation
In many urban centres of Aotearoa, town planning is an anomaly. Industry is regularly prioritised and placed at the heart of a city, breaking down the possibility of connection for its inhabitants. This project imagines a possibility for a better urban outcome, one that prioritises people and landscape over industry.
The plan considers the city of Hastings’ grid layout and how a fruit and vegetable processing plant, which spans a kilometre in length, presents an anomaly within the structured format. While this building’s scale overwhelms the grid and impedes connection, Ella’s design opens up possibilities for access.
This considered framework for the reuse of a current industrial site is applauded for its courageous use of the ‘red line’, and for bringing water and height to the opportunity.
There’s a delightful level of skill and sensibility in what has been retained and sensitively removed from the proposed idea. There’s also an outstanding reading and context of the issues, which have been presented through the drawings and represented in the techniques.
Regeneration is an important and topical issue for regional towns across Aotearoa and Ella’s proposal brings a sense of excitement with the site being ‘stitched’ back into the town’s existing grid.
