Te Kura o Te Whānau a Apanui

Almost three years ago, Livingstone met with the Ministry of Education, Board of Trustees and Iwi representatives to discuss the opportunity to build Te Kura o Te Whānau a Apanui. After the closure of three schools along the East Coast, the Ministry announced the creation of a new school. DCA Architects and MOAA Architects teamed up to design the school, supported by cultural advisors. Read more about the design here.

We were engaged to demolish the existing buildings on site to allow the construction of 3 new kura buildings. An asbestos removal control plan was required to safely prepare the site. Concrete was crushed and used on site as backfill which minimised transportation and the carbon footprint of the project. The location was remote so planning focused on the use of local resources, scheduling heavy materials transport to minimise community disruption and risk, and mitigating against weather events.

The construction of the 3 new large school buildings included Block A (Administration Building), Block B (hall and specialist learning spaces), and Block C (classrooms and specialist learning spaces), along with two ancillary buildings for the caretaker and tractor sheds.

Along with the building works, the scope included significant civil and site works covering an area of approximately 20,000m² including the re-contouring the existing rugby field, new external sports court, new roading, fencing, landscaping, and planting.

We built a strong relationship with the local community early in the build programme. The Livingstone team attended a marae stay over several nights to learn more about the rich cultural heritage, community and project surroundings. We also hosted open days to allow the community to feel engaged and connected to their new kura.