Motu Kōkako : tools for design in a sensitive and remote natural environment

Abstract

RESEARCH QUESTION: How can digital tools aid in creating a respectful and intimate connection between a structure and a sensitive and remote natural environment?

This project, set on Motu Kōkako in the Bay of Islands, investigates a design for a refuge in a sensitive and remote natural environment, searching for an approach that reduces the impact of the building on its environment. The project challenges the status quo of the regular and rectilinear connections and excavations that characterise typical building sites by proposing that when building in an environment of character there may already be abundant opportunities for connection with the site.

The project presents one approach that combines precise digital surveying and fabrication workflows to deliver a site-informed design and an efficient system that engages with the irregularity of the site whilst satisfying the constraints arising from issues of transporting the building materials to the site.

The project is driven by a proposition set by the Motu Kōkako Ahu Whenua Trust for a small refuge for whānau, biodiversity researchers and potentially tourists who would provide an income for the Trust.