Air New Zealand - Aviation Institute – 13 Rennie Drive, Manukau, Auckland.
To coincide with the re branding of their Training Academy, Air New Zealand sought to refurbish the majority of common areas within the newly named Aviation Institute.
This included upgrading the main entry, primary circulation from entry to café and lecture rooms, the student and staff cafes, main auditorium and external courtyard.
This refurbishment was to not only support and express the new Ai brand within the built environment, but it was seen as a good opportunity to address some shortcomings both internally and externally with how the spaces were impacting on the ability for students and teaching staff to better utilize the campus.
A key driver was also for Air New Zealand to provide an environment which engendered more of a modern campus style aesthetic, rather than the somewhat bland 1980’s industrial back room feel it had come to embody. It needed some life!
The Aviation Institute offers training for a wide range of operational roles specific to the aviation industry serving both internal Air New Zealand and external aviation industry clients. Ground crew, cabin crew, engineers and flight crew all come here at some point.
Modifications to the existing hard fit out included removing 2 toilets directly off the main reception entry lobby. This increased the width of primary circulation from entry to student café and removing the walls which previously separated the student café from primary circulation. This allowed for the creation of a new student café / lounge area that is now more connected to and part of daily life and used as not just a place to eat or drink, but to also work,meet and socialize as well.
The designer worked with Air New Zealand to develop and implement a concept that not only addressed the functional requirements of getting some 400-600 through the building each day but also incorporated reference to some of the aesthetic queues experienced as part of the Air New Zealand customer experience within airport / air travel environments. This was achieved through the use of some of the materials, finishes and furnishings found in those environments. The final design also incorporates a high degree of environmental graphics which references both the classroom environment and the Air New Zealand customer experience. These environmental graphics were a collaborative effort between, Air New Zealand, the designer and a client appointed Graphic Designer.
The designer also developed the overall concept for the upgrade of external areas such as base building exterior colour scheme, the main entry (to provide a more obvious and open / welcoming point of entry with a greater degree of transparency) and the staff café courtyard (to provide a private courtyard which would allow better year round use to be made of the external space available).
Internally, new finishes comprise wood look timber flooring to main entry and main corridors outside classrooms with black marmoleum details inserted at junctions to complement wayfinding graphics. Both were selected for their visual warmth and high durability. Carpet tiles and polished concrete were used on the floors of the student café, these were chosen for the opportunity to introduce some reference to colour ways found in terminal environments. Macarocarpa wall panels also reference some of the detailing / materials found at Premium Check In – this also applies to the to some of the soft furnishings used within the student café.
Carpet tiles have been used at low level within main corridors outside classrooms to not only break up the long expanses of circulation space, but also to give some means of sound absorption and protect the wall in what are very high traffic areas.
The end result has been an environment which supports the new brand and also provides a series of greatly improved communal spaces, which not only reflect aspects of the Air New Zealand Customer Experience, but provides a place where the student experience is enhanced.
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