News

Queen Street Pocket Park

Posted on May 30, 2013 by digitalstream

Chris Chen, Landscape architect for Pocock Design Environment, comments:

Liz Davidson Place was identified as one of the key projects that would kick-start and lead the process of a town-centre streetscape upgrade for the township of Blenheim. Once completed it would provide a key public open space within the CBD and would also be used as an event and market space.

More importantly, it would set the tone for all future stages of the town-centre streetscape upgrade.After doing a lot of research and testing out different combinations we finally decided to use Horizon Nubrik clay pavers as the main paving material for the park, for clay paving is deeply imbedded in the vernacular of rural New Zealand rural towns. The wide range of available colour selections gave us the ability to create a warm, vibrant and contrasting surface for the otherwise ordinary and often shaded space.

The small and uniform-sized pavers also worked well together with larger-format cut stone paving, which added another splash of interests to the space as a whole and tied the paving into other elements in the park (such as planters and furniture). As a result we created a park (and a paving surface) that was fresh looking, easily maintainable and most importantly fitted Blenheim’s rural provincial centre image.

Project details

Project name: Liz Davidson Place, Blenheim
Client: Marlborough District Council
Contract management: NZTA
Project management: Tim Smit
Designer: Pocock Design Environment
Main contractor: Fulton Hogan
Pavers selected: Nubrik clay paving

Pipitea Marae Upgrade

Posted on May 29, 2013 by digitalstream

Pipitea Marae Upgrade in Wellington

Pipitea Marae Wellington after an amazing transformation

Tenths Trust recently completed an significant upgrade at Wellington’s Pipitea Marea featuring Terrazzo Veneto paving.

What were you looking to achieve with the design?

The landscape is part of the marae atea to Pipitea Marae and so it has a number of ceremonial functions which it must accommodate. It is used almost every day and night by various clubs and groups, as well as during casual use of the wharenui and wharekai by various clubs and organisations and by individuals who come onto the site from the surrounding offices to eat their lunch. So it has many different practical and programmatic requirements.

In addition to that, we wanted the landscape to be an expression of the culture of the people to whom it belongs. We tried to use materials and patterns which responded to the unique and at times iconic language of tikanga maori. The koru, for example, was an explicit request by the client. The paving pattern references Maori basket weaving and is also a metaphor for the meeting of two people, which is the primary function of an atea.

Why did you choose to work with Horizon?

The client wanted to use materials which were a cut above the average. We explored a range of possibilities before settling on the Terrazzo range. We also liked that they were locally made and so saved on the environmental cost of transportation.Horizon was also able to respond to the very tight timeframe we had in which to deliver the project.

What brief did you give Horizon?

We discussed at length the mixes, finishes, sealants, laying and base on which the pavers were to go. It was less about me briefing them and more about collaborating to achieve the best possible product – a collaboration that I feel was highly successful.

Why were you impressed with their solution?

Yes, I was particularly impressed with their ability to deliver on time, as this can cause major problems. The quality of the product now that the project is completed exceeds my expectations.

What feedback have you had about the paving/landscaping products delivered by Horizon?

We haven’t quite finished the project yet, but the feedback from the clients has been extremely positive.

Project details

Project name: Pipitea Marae
Designer: Moorhead and Newdick Landscape Architects
Installer: Nikau Palmatum
Paving suppliers: Horizon International
Pavers used: Veneto Pastelli

Massey Albany Campus

Posted on October 30, 2012 by digitalstream

Q & A with Patrick Corfe, Director of Patrick Corfe Landscape Architects Ltd, on the landscaping at the new Student Amenities Centre at Massey University’s Albany campus.

1. What were looking to achieve with the design?

The new student amenities centre landscape provides an essential focus for the university’s students. Our role was to create a central plaza at the core of the student facilities and a transition from existing buildings towards ongoing expansion projects. The building provides health and counselling support and ground-floor refreshment and retail activity. These open out onto a wide concourse and through a covered colonnade leading out into a generous canopy area and the new plaza space.

To achieve the new look and integrate the surfacing, a range of Terrazzo Veneto pavers have been used. They are laid in patterns that reflect the surrounding buildings and anchor their diverse orientations. As a departure from existing pedestrian paving, the Horizon product was selected as the best way forward in terms of a paving palette for the current expansion within the campus.

The plaza surfaces, low terraced lawns and trees respond to the merging of the axial nature of expansion. Large slabs of green lawn and an uncluttered open space are designed to host impromptu performance and events offering a prominent pedestrian nucleus for the campus. This open space provides a forecourt to the new centre and a hub for pedestrian activity.

Flat grass terraces integrate changing levels and provide a notion of collegiate quadrangle lawns. These open spaces intend to retain the open, pastoral context the campus originated from. Unrestricted views offer internal orientation and an outlook to both bush and the wider Albany development.

The plaza offers a flexible meeting place and marks a shift in the identity and character of the campus. At the heart of a masterplan of long-term expansion, the space provides a permanent setting for informal student life. Supporting circulation and these lawns is a comprehensive layout of paved surfaces.

2. Why did you choose to work with Horizon?

Horizon offered a range of durable, cost-effective products and scope to create a new finish specifically for this campus. Horizon were able to be proactive and responsive to Massey University’s needs and provide samples for evaluation and discussion.

3. What brief did you give Horizon?

We asked Horizon to help us develop a unique paving module for the university that captures some of the surface colour of previously used unit pavers. Alongside its traditional range, these pavers were to be of a higher quality and better image for the campus environment, as well as being easier to maintain.

4. Why were you impressed with their solution?

We designed a complex terrazzo patterning with multiple level changes, ramps, steps, low walls, lawn borders and raised sculpture plinths. Horizon was able to produce the product including special modules and the ‘Massey’ campus finish pavers and meet tight delivery deadlines. The pavers contribute an enduring character and interest to the pedestrian campus and are currently being advocated for future expansion.

Carterton Event Centre Upgrade

Posted on October 30, 2012 by digitalstream

Horizon International interviewed Project Coordinator Tim Asby of Opus Architecture who specified its paving products for the new Carterton Events Centre.

Horizon International: What were looking to achieve with the design?

Tim Asby: The projects primary focus was to bring together community groups and organisations and provide a new heart to the Town of Carterton. There are two main hard landscaped areas, the Civic Plaza and Central Courtyard.

The Plaza provides a large congregation space to connect the centre to the street. It required a simple and elegant solution to allow easy integration into a later street upgrade project which is due to begin soon, whilst also providing a permeable free drainage solution. Due to the future project we needed something that looked finished at building completion, but also was able to accept and tie in with the new street design without any problems.

A simple striped array of Terrazzo Veneto Shotblasted Paving provided the ideal solution to these requirements.

The central courtyard area is designed as the metaphorical heart to centre, the surrounding interior spaces are all quite different so this space needed to be a relatively neutral and also quiet feeling space. We introduced some simple curved elements to break up the otherwise very rectilinear space. The paving needed to support that and also provide the frame for the community sponsor Nubrik pavers that are placed here also. We elected to maintain continuity and repeat the Terrazzo Veneto Shotblasted pavers used in the Civic Plaza area.

HI: Why did you choose to work with Horizon?

TA: Horizon had provided great service on the smaller sponsored paver part of the project and were able to supply a good and cost effective solution with local manufacture. All of which met with our project economic and sustainability requirements.

HI: What brief did you give Horizon?

TA: Initially a cost, area and the project requirements such as permeability to establish what we could achieve. Then we worked with horizon to find the best design solution from our available options.

HI: Why were you impressed with its solution?

TA: The solution itself was relatively simple which is what we were looking for. In this project we were particularly impressed with the knowledge that Horizon brought to the table and their proactive approach to providing solutions and options. We have since worked with and specified Horizon Products on a number of other projects because again they have proven to be the best option for our requirements.

Bryce Street Veneto Upgrade

Posted on October 23, 2012 by digitalstream

An interview with Reset Urban Design Ltd Associate Orson Waldock.

1. What were looking to achieve with the design?

Orson Waldock, Associate at Reset Urban Design Ltd

“The design aims to create an outdoor dining precinct and new streetscape environment which provides a strong interface between Bryce Street and a revitalised Centre Place retail mall. The project was undertaken in partnership with Hamilton City Council and the land owner Kiwi Income Property Trust in order to create a space which allowed the development of a new active edge which address Bryce Street as well a providing greater pedestrian connectivity to the surrounding street network.

The new outdoor dining podium sits between upgraded entrances to Centre Place with a light open roof structure which provides shelter as well as providing a transition in scale from the large format building to the street. The dining podium is well orientated to the North and is bathed in sun, solar penetration through roof structure ensures the shop fronts are well lit and remain visible from the street. The dining podium sits just above the footpath level, with a terrazzo nib, low hedging and generous planters at either end providing separation from the busy street whist retaining a sense of openness.

New street lights and large scale cabbage trees hold down the edge of the street whilst a new speed table and surface treatments in the road reduce vehicle speeds and create stronger pedestrian links to neighbouring streets. The palette of paving materials is simple, large mats of terrazzo used at the mall entry and dining space with a simple arrangement of clay pavers used to effectively bridge these higher amenity areas.

The overriding principles embodied in this project were to develop a space which is high quality, socially engaging, robust and easily maintained to a high standard of finish.”

2. Why did you choose to work with Horizon?

“We continue to work with Horizon based on the expertise and high levels of service they bring to their projects. Horizon has been a trusted partner on many projects and continues to show great commitment to innovation and quality.”

3. What brief did you give Horizon?

“We asked horizon to help us develop a terrazzo solution which could be used for a number of applications, paving, nib wall and large scale kerb units within the same job. A number of samples and options were developed in order to test various colour schemes, finishes and module sizes.”

4. Why were you impressed with their solution?

“Both ourselves as designers and the client are extremely happy with the built outcome. The pallete of materials is a good looking, robust and cost effective solution to a relatively complex build. The nature of the terrazzo product has given us the ability to develop a bespoke finish and apply it to a range of hardscape elements within the projects; creating simple clean lines which transition across ground and vertical planes.”

Bryce Street Hamilton Paving