Te Whare Mātauranga (the House of Learning) at Flat Bush School in South Auckland is a new teaching facility and part of a wider initiative by Te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga (the Ministry of Education) to modernise learning environments across the country. Designed by Ignite Architects, the flooring includes Havelock and Awake carpet tiles and Gecko entrance matting from Advance Flooring.

‘The design adopts the principles associated with creating an innovative learning environment (ILE), and features five teaching spaces in a single-storey, open-plan arrangement,’ says project architect Ryan Duthie from Ignite. ‘Designed as part of a larger bundle of new teaching facilities across a number of schools, the idea was to create simple and repeatable architecture, which would lead to efficiencies in design and construction.’

With Advance carpet tiles and entrance matting specified across all projects in the bundle, the result for Flat Bush School was an exciting new classroom that meets all its specific needs.

‘The school’s cultural background was a key driver in the development of the project, as well as its passionate staff and their pedagogical ideology,’ says Ryan. ‘The classroom features a variety of flexible learning spaces, a shared project area for art and cooking, and intimate zones for focused learning. The connection between indoor and outdoor learning is also key to the school, and the building promotes a natural flow to outdoor areas and the wider school environment.’

Havelock and Awake carpet tiles in gold and grey reflect the school’s colours and help to delineate the spaces, while meeting the performance and acoustic requirements of the overall project.

‘The Ministry was looking closely at budgets for the materials, and the Advance products are simple and practical, tried and tested within the education market. We worked with them to create a design for the carpet, which really brings the interior to life.’

With the Gecko matting protecting entryways on all four sides of the building, Flat Bush School’s Te Whare Mātauranga is the first of four projects in the bundle to be completed, and has proved that a standardised design can be transformed into something unique.

‘In the end, it was a truly collaborative process, with the school’s active involvement playing a crucial role in the success of the space and how it’s utilised. It's great going back and seeing that they’re still buzzing about it.’

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CREDITS

Product: Havelock and Awake carpet tiles, Gecko entrance tile

Architect: Ignite Architects

Builder: Watts & Hughes Construction

Photographer: Mark Scowen

Writer: Folio