New Zealand Blood Service building

The New Zealand Blood Service building at Highbrook Business Park is the first 6 Green Star Design certified industrial building in Aotearoa.

Purpose-built by Goodman Property Trust for Crown entity the New Zealand Blood Service this dynamic property is driving change in the industrial building sector.

Essentials

Name: New Zealand Blood Service building

What: industrial building including warehouse (2787m²), office (530m²), yard, canopy and carpark (1060m²)

Tenant: New Zealand Blood Service (NZBS) Te Ratonga Toto O Aotearoa which supports Aotearoa’s healthcare community through managing the collection, processing and supply of blood, controlled human substances and related services; the new building will be used for processing and storage of blood, cell and tissue products and associated consumables

Projected daily occupancy: 45 to 50 people

Location: Highbrook Business Park; a mixed-use development of 107 hectares with high quality - warehousing and logistics facilities. Includes a commercial, retail and hospitality hub; owned by Goodman Property Trust

Address: 78 Highbrook Drive, Highbrook Business Park, Auckland

Project Snapshot

Owner: Goodman Property Trust (Goodman)

Owner profile: Goodman owns, develops and manages high-quality warehouse and logistics spaces close to consumers. Its business operations have been Toitū carbonzero certified since 2021; all new projects commenced since 2021 target 5 Green Star Built certification; seven Green Star certified properties to date; 12 additional projects underway targeting at least a 5 Green Star Built rating. Goodman recently achieved its second 6 Green Star Design review rating for Tāwharau Lane industrial development at Highbrook Business Park

Architect: Williams Architects Ltd

Main contractor: SMC Construction

GSAP: Peter Bryant, SEEC Ltd

Building services engineer: Thurston Consulting

Structural engineer: Day Consultants, GHD

Project manager: RCP

Project timeline : 2022 - 12 months from design to practical completion

Project certification: 6 Green Star - Design Review rating (February 2023)

The 6 Green Star Design review rated New Zealand Blood Service building showcases what world leadership looks like in an industrial building.

Achieved with reduced upfront embodied carbon and the capacity to cut its future operational emissions, the ground-breaking NZBS facility pushes the bar for sustainability.

“We chose to use Green Star because it is New Zealand’s leading sustainability certification,” says Mark Thompson, senior project manager, Goodman.

“Green Star is aligned to sustainability which is one of our four pillars alongside integrity, determination, and innovation. It also aligns with our purpose of ‘making space for greatness.’”

“Higher quality buildings create an improved working environment for our customers. Building more energy-efficient buildings also provides space for our customers to achieve their own carbon reduction targets. Green Star is becoming increasingly important for occupiers as they look to accomplish their own operational and green goals.”

Tom Slade, Head of Environmental Sustainability at Goodman, says “it is exciting to be delivering a new generation of buildings that will help customers achieve their own sustainability objectives.”

Located in a prominent position at Highbrook Business Park, the New Zealand Blood Service building originally targeted a 5 Green Star rating. However, during development it became clear its design would meet the higher 6 Green Star standard.

Mark Thompson says inspirational green elements of the building include:

• orientation and the narrow shape of the office allowing natural sunlight and views across the Highbrook parklands and Tāmaki River
• office area ventilation rate 100 percent above NZBC requirement
• sizeable 36kWp solar power generation
• high profile site on Highbrook Drive while providing a peaceful internal environment with high acoustic performance
• lower carbon concrete
• sub-metering to monitor energy usage

“We are very proud of our team for developing a world-leading facility for the New Zealand Blood Service,” Mark says.

Project architect Simon Williams of Williams Architects says the design intent for the project centred on the delivery of a landmark building which relates to its topography and provides a great place to work.

“We wanted to create an environment that is inspiring, comfortable and meaningful to work in. The well-being of the occupants is paramount and accordingly the views, glare and lighting control, environmental comfort and health have been maximised. Reduced energy use and a light environmental footprint make this building an exemplary and aspirational workplace.”

Simon says all aspects of the building have been designed with people-centred solutions in mind, sustainable materials, and building services that deliver the highest performance outcomes.

“We are excited to have been able to reach such a high goal,” he says.

The high performance building has been a stand-out project for GSAP and SEEC director, Peter Bryant.

“It has been great to work with the team from Goodman who embraced a strong commitment to sustainability. Together with excellent project management from RCP it allowed for this fantastic achievement.”

Peter says working closely with the NZGBC technical team has ensured all Green Star requirements were clearly communicated to the wider project team.

He says more recent features of the Green Star tool - the Climate Adaption Plan (CAP) and comparative Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) have delivered very tangible environmental benefits to the building.

“The Climate Adaption Plan has been a valuable piece of work that has informed the building’s design in response to projected changing climatic conditions for Auckland.”

To accommodate the risk of more frequent heavy rain and extreme weather events (causing flooding, strong winds, driving rain) increased gutter and downpipe sizing has been installed on the building to cope with increased peak stormwater flows.

“This means onsite business disruption risks from extreme weather events are mitigated. Rainwater harvesting with tank storage of 25,000 litres provides for capturing a portion of the roof run-off for later reuse.”

Similarly, to lessen the impact of temperatures putting pressure on building cooling systems, electricity demand and user comfort, a range of solutions have been used within the structure to reduce the rate of heat transfer through the building.

These include:

• high-performance glazing (insulating glass unit or IGU glazing)
• internal lining of all external walls, roof and floors, including the common internal wall with the office and accompanying warehouse space
• low emissivity roofing paints
• use of light-coloured roofing and cladding coatings

Peter says the building’s first iteration of its Comparative Life Cycle assessment allowed informed decisions be made as its design developed - for example meticulous selection of low environmental impact materials.

These materials have been centre stage in the delivery of the project for main contractor SMC Construction. Youssef Sammour, senior project manager at SMC Construction, says the New Zealand Blood Service building shines a spotlight on the importance of sustainable construction practices.

“We are extremely proud this building has achieved 6 Green Stars. Sustainability is a critical issue facing the construction industry in Aotearoa and we believe we have a responsibility to ensure our projects have a minimal impact on the environment.” 

Youssef says there has been a significant increase in demand for sustainability, with many clients now requiring Green Star certification for projects. He says this has had a positive impact for the SMC Construction team working on site.

“It helped to create a sense of purpose and inspired us to strive towards sustainability in all aspects of our work.”

SMC Construction held weekly meetings with staff and subcontractors to discuss sustainability practices including waste reduction, energy efficiency and water conservation.

“The meetings helped raise awareness about the importance of sustainability and created a culture of environmental awareness amongst our team.”

“ By continuing to prioritise sustainability and implement Green Star principles we can create healthier and more sustainable built environments for future generations,” he says.