The New Dowse: The Building
Completely re-vamped in 2006 by Athfield architects, TheNewDowse houses 11 exhibition spaces, several multi-purpose activity spaces, a sunbathed courtyard and a destination café and design shop.
The six million dollar tune-up significantly expanded the building that was originally designed by the Structon Group in 1971.
One of the key features of the design is the perforated metallic façade, Rainscreen, which is a happy hybrid of artistic expression and eco-friendly design.
Developed by Athfield architects, artist Simon Morris and Fraser Engineering Group, Rainscreen contains movable panels to both capture and control the sunstrike, while thousands of diamond-shaped perforations create an ever-changing shadow play inside and outside the building.
Using tonnes of Wairarapa river stones, engineers Sinclair Knight Merz sought to achieve similar eco-friendly goals to moderate the temperature of the building. Underneath the café lies 44 square metres of wire ‘mesh’ baskets containing river stones that hold in the heat or cold.
Cooler night air is drawn in and ‘stored’ in the stones, so when the sun comes up, this chilled air is available to the museum’s air conditioning units, keeping energy costs down.
Please note: several areas are available to hire