Unitec

Day 227, Thursday 5 April 2018

Unitec is the largest technical institute in New Zealand, and has a large campus in suburban Auckland. The campus was once a hospital, and Unitec inherited a substantial 1860s brick building. The government and Unitec recently announced that the campus would be consolidated at the southern end of the site, freeing up land for 3-4000 new houses, which Auckland desperately needs.

Today I wandered around the northern part of the campus to see part of the area that will be replaced by housing. Some of it is in playing fields, other parts are green space. Most of the buildings are single-story weatherboard structures. The former hospital building, now the home of the Architecture school, is one of the few multi-story facilities at the northern end.

I liked the campus. It’s very different from the high-rise campuses I’m used to in the central city. It reminded me a little bit of Massey University in Palmerston North, which also is spread over a large landscaped area. However, I accept that the land will be better used for housing than for low density educational facilities. I’m glad to see that the Sanctuary Mahi Whenua communal garden will be retained by Unitec.