Winner of the 2017 NZ Property Council Supreme Award, the Sistema Building is one of the largest and most advanced manufacturing facilities in New Zealand.
Comprising 47,000 sqm of manufacturing space and a storage/distribution warehouse, plus over 5,000 sqm of office and ancillary spaces, the new building enables Sistema to consolidate all operations from six buildings around Auckland to its current location under one roof.
The size, proportion and orientation of the building were determined after careful studies of the company’s current business needs, as well as projected growth. The layout was based on a detailed study of Sistema’s manufacturing process, spatial adjacency and other operational requirements.
The office building block has a free-flow architecture form in contrast to the main building. Its curved façade design, reflecting Sistema’s iconic Blue Clip product design, greets visitors arriving on the site. The two-level office building façade is made of aluminium joinery suites with tinted reflective glass and aluminium composite panel cladding.
The architectural form of the manufacturing/warehouse building reflects its functionality and efficiency. The main body of the building was clad with precast concrete panels with profiled metal cladding on top. This is interrupted by full-height precast concrete ‘entry portals’ around doorways and openings. Painted in a rich blue colour and clearly numbered, these portals have help break down of building scale and improve the legibility of access points around the building.
To future-proof such a large building against potential changes in the industry and technology, the design allows for flexible subdivision to suit multi-tenancy scenarios.
Overall, the building form is contemporary, bold with character, and reflective of Sistema’s products as well as its focus on technology and innovation.