Living Pā Project

With construction well underway, 42 to 50 Kelburn Parade will soon be home to ‘The Living Pā’, a revolutionary marae precinct redevelopment and the latest addition to the University’s Kelburn campus. The 3000 sqm project will serve as an ‘incubator for innovation’ and a sustainability beacon that redefines our understanding of, and interaction with, the built environment.

The project is one of few striving for full ‘Living’ building certification in the Southern Hemisphere, the first mass timber building to do so, and the first amongst an urban environment. The LBC framework requires the pā to be net positive in carbon, water, energy and waste and demonstrably giving back to the local community and surrounding ecology.

The LBC requirements reflect te ao Māori principles such as kaitiakitanga (guardianship), whanaungatanga (kinship) and whakapapa (lineage). With Papaptūānuku under pressure, these principles have and will continue to have a profound influence on the project as it seeks the gold standard in sustainable building. The Living Pā intends to create a positive impact on the natural and human systems that interact with it, continuing long after construction is completed. Once completed, the pā aims to set the benchmark for future regenerative building projects.

Greenwood Roche assisted throughout the procurement process for this project, including to provide strategic procurement advice, draft and negotiate the early contractor involvement agreement and construction contract, and finalise the construction documents.