Irving Smith Architects

Scion Innovation Hub

Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds

SCION INNOVATION HUB

RTA Studio + Irving Smith Architects

ARCHITECTS
Irving Smith Architects, Rta Studio

DESIGN TEAM
Isa, Andrew Irving, Blair Sigley, Gaby Van Der Boom

PHOTOGRAPHS
Patrick Reynolds

AREA
2000 m²

YEAR
2020

LOCATION
Rotorua, New Zealand

CATAGORY
Offices, Offices Interiors

This project is a reinvention of the Rotorua headquarters of Scion, a Crown Research Institute that specializes in technology development for the forestry industry.

Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds
Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds

Aptly located on the edge of the redwood forest in Whakarewarewa Forest Park, the project brings the workforce, previously siloed in smaller buildings dotted around the campus, into a central innovation hub while creating a new campus arrival point to strengthen the public interface for Scion.

Named after Tuteata, an ancestor of the three local subtribes ‘Te Whare Nui o Tuteata’ is a cutting-edge showcase for engineered timber not only in terms of the aesthetic but what it contributes to a carbon-zero future.

Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds
Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds

A trio of ‘peaks’ in gluelam timber, representative of the three hapu in the region, stand proud and tall at the entrance.

Visitors pass beneath these portals to a triple-height atrium where a curated exhibition of wood-fiber technology and a café welcomes the public.

Immediately present is the structural diagrid which rises three storeys to form the skeleton of the building.

Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds
Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds
Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds

These structural elements are made of high-performing Laminated Veneer Lumber and feature dovetail node joints that slot and glue together in an expression of craftsmanship.

Looking upward from the atrium, the levels above provide the more private, acoustically considered open-plan office and collaboration spaces.

As assessed using the Etool system, the Scion Innovation Hub achieves embodied carbon zero at the time of completion.

Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds
Scion Innovation Hub
© Patrick Reynolds

Furthermore, to measure all of life and end of life carbon, the new building was assessed to achieve the 2030 target set by the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) of 500kg of carbon/ msq.

By using engineered products made from sustainably grown pine and putting more thought into the operational characteristics of a building, the building significantly contributes to New Zealand’s carbon-zero future to leave a much lighter footprint on the land.


Scion Innovation Hub
Diagram 01
Scion Innovation Hub
Diagram 02
Scion Innovation Hub
Diagram 03
Scion Innovation Hub
Diagram 04


Scion Innovation Hub
Plan - Site
Scion Innovation Hub
Plan - Ground Floor
Scion Innovation Hub
Plan - 1nd Floor
Scion Innovation Hub
Plan - 2nd Floor


Scion Innovation Hub
Sections and Elevations

Irving Smith Architects
T +64 3 5481372
Irving Smith Architects
96 Collingwood Street, Nelson 7010, New Zealand
RTA Studio Ltd
T +64 9 3603313
RTA Studio Ltd
54 Pollen Street, Grey Lynn, Auckland 1011, New Zealand