Inside a living laboratory: AUT’s Ngā Wai Hono building

Over the past five years, enrolments in ECMS disciplines have risen by 14%, highlighting the building’s role in reshaping campus life and academic outcomes. This milestone offers an opportunity to reflect on how a bold vision, realised in partnership with Jasmax, has transformed learning, research and the student experience at AUT. 

Ngā Wai Hono is a strategic response to challenges familiar across the tertiary sector in Australasia:

• Fragmented faculties and siloed research units
• Space constraints on urban campuses
• Under-utilised specialist labs
• Lack of informal, student-centric spaces
• Infrastructure misaligned with evolving pedagogies

AUT’s brief was clear: create a game-changing learning environment that fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, attracts world-class research and maximises space utilisation. The result is a facility that has driven growth in student enrolments, boosted research funding and established a new identity for the university’s STEM disciplines. 

A blueprint for sector-wide innovation

Jasmax Principal Mary Henry and Head of Communications Roberta Johnson recently spoke with Professor Tek Tjing Lie, Head of the School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, and Professor Charles Walker, Head of the School of Future Environments (SoFE), about the building’s impact. Their reflections reveal five key attributes that could inform future campus developments:

“Ngā Wai Hono, AUT’s ​‘living laboratory’ has fulfilled its promise,” says Prof. Lie.

1. A teaching and learning tool in itself: The 12-storey Ngā Wai Hono building showcases a range of construction typologies and exposed mechanical and electrical systems, making the building a hands-on learning resource. ​“Students use this building to study structure, services, and materiality first-hand. It’s incredibly useful,” says Prof. Walker. 

   Takeaway: Designing buildings as pedagogical tools can enhance curriculum delivery and student engagement.

2. Variety and flexibility: The facility includes flexible wet, dry, dirty and clean delivery labs and a variety of specialist research areas. Equipment used for teaching modules is palletised and mobile, allowing for high utilisation and minimal downtime. Courses are now highly subscribed, with lectures and labs running into the evening. 

   Takeaway: Flexible infrastructure supports pedagogical and economic goals – critical for urban campuses with limited space.

3. International research credibility: Specialist labs have attracted global partnerships and funding, particularly in seismic and geotechnical research. ​“We’re now consulting with teams from California, Japan, Italy and the UK – we’ve got the facilities to contribute to research at an international level,” says Prof. Walker. 

   Takeaway: Purpose-built facilities can elevate a university’s research profile and open doors to international collaboration.

4. Spaces for quiet study and postgraduate work: With 30% of the university’s PhD students now based in Ngā Wai Hono, the mid-floor levels of the tower are dedicated to Masters and PhD students, offering quiet zones and proximity to academic staff. ​“It’s a space that fosters collegiality and concentration,” says Prof. Lie. 

   Takeaway: Thoughtful spatial planning supports student wellbeing and academic success.

5. A shopfront for the university: Both professors agree that their favourite space is the St Paul Street entry foyer – a vibrant, multi-use space for events and informal gatherings. ​“People from all over the university use it. It’s the shop window for AUT,” says Prof. Walker. ​“Ngā Wai Hono provides spaces that brings people together… Even people from outside AUT,” adds Prof. Lie.

   Takeaway: Welcoming, flexible public spaces can strengthen institutional identity and community engagement.