Pins and needles

Abstract

“Buildings outlast civilisations, they evolve and they are changed, but their reuse emphasises continuity. A building can retain a remembrance of the former function and value ; it has a memory of its previous purpose engrained within its very structure.”

Conservation allows us to protect and preserve buildings of heritage value to ensure they retain a significant place in our built fabric. Modes of intervention range from complete restoration to adaptive re-use. Through consideration of different conservation and adaptive reuse intervention strategies, and examination of international case studies where adaptive re-use has been practiced, this research project addresses different ways that renewal of heritage architecture can challenge a community’s opinions on the value of retaining and reinvigorating heritage buildings. It shows how these buildings, in their renewed forms, can be integrated into a modern city fabric, creating an interesting diversity of old and new.

Harbourside in Dunedin is an active industrial zone with a number of under-utilised heritage buildings. ‘Urban acupuncture’ – a technique analogous to medicinal acupuncture – has been used to identify particular under-utilised buildings, which can be sensitively redeveloped to encourage their re-use and stimulate further redevelopment in the surrounding context.

The programme for this project, a tertiary fashion school, is intended to expand Dunedin’s lively fashion scene. Creating a campus that includes a business start-up incubator dedicated to fashion will offer the opportunity for fashion school graduates to base themselves in Dunedin rather then moving away to larger cities. Creating a strong focus and population base within the Harbourside will encourage new businesses, such as shops, cafes and other fashion-related industries, into the area, which will also benefit the existing activities. Proposed site: Otago Daily Times store and Evening Star Store on the intersection of Devon, Cresswell and Mason Streets, Harbourside, Dunedin.