Foodstuffs North Island Landing Drive Fitout

The fitout at Foodstuffs North Island Landing Drive has achieved world-leading 6 Green Star Interiors rating. The multi-functional workplace is a low carbon, healthy and highly positive environment.  

Essentials

Name: Foodstuffs North Island Landing Drive

What: Foodstuffs North Island Support Office

Details: 9000 square metre three-storey building; 6 Green Star built rating (2022), 6 Green Star NZ - Office Interiors v3 rating (2023)

Occupancy: 850 people

Site specifics: An integrated campus with a 77,000 square metre grocery distribution centre

Address: 35 Landing Drive, Māngere, Auckland

Project Snapshot

Owner: Auckland International Airport Limited

Tenant: Foodstuffs North Island

Architect: Monk Mackenzie

GSAP: eCubed Building Workshop

Project manager: RDT Pacific

Main contractor: Hawkins

Fitout timeline:  October 2019 - Dec 2020

Project certification: 6 Green Star – Office Interiors v3 rating (September 2023)

Spatial engagement, natural lighting, ergonomic workspaces, greenery, beautiful and durable materials – Foodstuffs Landing Drive is a workplace dream.

With an overarching roof shaping its sculptural form, the building presents an image of a community housed beneath one ceiling.  

Monk Mackenzie project lead architect, Sean Flanagan, says its interior design responds to Foodstuffs’ North Island’s co-operative ethos and a desire to bring workers together as a communal group.

“Seeing and being part of a community within work spaces that resonate with a sense of care has significant wellbeing benefits,” says Sean.

A dramatic interior journey moves occupants from a bluestone-tiled ground floor to a top-lit world where the sculpted atrium overhead allows light to fall down from above offering an elongated view to the sky.

Curved seating suspended within the atrium provides occupants with a place to connect while terraces leading from level 1 workspaces deliver surprise and engagement with unexpected access to an attractive ground level landscape. 

“In a world that is increasingly spatially monocultural we wanted to offer an environment that took advantage of bigness – of scale and height – to offer experiences that occupants rarely found elsewhere.”

A BIM model has been central to the wider project enabling sustainability performance to be evaluated across the base build and fitout. 

Sean says that knowledge allowed manipulation of the interior to maximise occupancy experience.

“BIM technology helped inform design across a range of elements from solar performance and energy saving to heating, interior lighting levels for wellbeing and close assessment of the impact of material and product selections.”

Foodstuffs North Island Head of Property, Nick Hanson, says the 6 Green Star interiors rating is ‘a milestone moment’ for Aotearoa’s largest grocery operator.

“Coming on top of 6 Green Stars for the base build this fantastic result showcases Foodstuffs’ drive to lower its carbon footprint, play a part in mitigating climate change and care for its team with a world-class workplace.”

Nick says green thinking drove the project from the outset for both Auckland International Airport as the landlord responsible for the base build, and Foodstuffs North Island as the tenant responsible for the fitout. 

RDT Pacific director, Simon Wilson, says the seamless integration of Green Star across the project “facilitated the collaborative development of synergistic Green Star strategies for both parties involved” – resulting in the stand-out achievement.

Simon says the fitout “unquestionably sets an exceptional example for businesses in Aotearoa.”

“It’s a shining green example offering a holistic model incorporating sustainability, employee wellbeing, productivity and resource utilisation. Hopefully its success can inspire and guide other businesses to pursue similar ideals for more environmentally-conscious and supportive workplaces. 

eCubed senior consultant and Project GSAP, David Fullbrook, identifies highlights of the fitout as:

• workplace strategy: spatial efficiency with agile work spaces; highly efficient, deep floorplates with a dense occupancy of 1 person /8m²; a fully integrated fitout with synergy of material selections and system optimisation – resulting in a reduction in the size of the building, increased workplace efficiency and reduced embodied/operational carbon outputs.

• workplace neighbourhood: on-site conveniences including supermarket, café, atrium community hub, pocket parks, education centre, wellness centre/prayer room - less driving by team to off-site amenities has reduced the building’s annual operational carbon emissions by around 7 % (13.4 tonnes of CO2 per year).

• net zero operational energy and carbon: for both base building and tenant loads (tenancy loads represent 64% of the whole building energy use); 2880 solar panels on the adjacent distribution centre’s roof have generated 11% more electricity than the office building has consumed in its first two years of net positive energy and carbon operation.

David says meticulous tracking of materials by Hawkins, Foodstuffs North Island’s detailed submission and taking time to submit for certification “so we had two years of real data demonstrating Foodstuffs’ commitment to environmental management targets” were instrumental in the 6 Green Star outcome.

 Northern Regional Manager for Hawkins, John Abercrombie, says working on the Foodstuffs Landing Drive project “has been a remarkable and rewarding experience of which we are immensely proud”.

 “The fitout has been a significant highlight for Hawkins. The project embodied core principles of bringing people together into a sustainable and efficient workplace that fosters collaboration, connectivity and wellbeing.”

 Foodstuffs North Island’s facilities manager, Andrew Reynolds, says the 6 Green Stars echoes the work and investment put into the rating.

 “The result cements our commitment to katiakitanga, proves our leadership in sustainable practices and in bringing out the best in our staff through having a truly wonderful and modular workplace.”

He says the exquisitely crafted fitout enhances the working day of team members.

“I love that the building feels as though it’s growing out of the ground and mixes seamlessly with the landscape. The planting on the way in and the plants throughout the office give the wonderful feeling of being connected to nature while still in a bustling work space,” says Foodstuffs North Island’s communication & wellbeing specialist, Brijana Neale.

Foodstuffs North Island’s program assistant, Suzi Anderson, says it’s easy to connect with your team but also the wider Foodstuffs teams due to the open layout.

“There are lots of spaces to break out to for informal catch ups or meet for lunches and coffee. And there’s great light in the office with all the windows.”

Green and technical features include:

• 84% diversion rate of construction waste from landfill
• 93% of furniture from existing premises reused and/or donated to charity
• integrated fitout of at least 90% of assessable area
• low energy consumption computers/monitors
• 92% low VOC paints adhesives/sealants
• 96% use of FSC timber
• low carbon sustainable concrete mix used
• 60% of assessable area has views with a visual connection to outdoors
• building uses 53% less water than a typical building
• rainwater harvesting
• cycling storage and EOT facilities

Innovation points for:

• net zero operational energy / carbon
• EPDs
• EV Charging
• green cleaning
• financial transparency
• walkable neighbourhood

Photography  by Thomas Seear-Budd