Following the success of the 504-bedroom Tupuānuku student accommodation facility opened in 2021, the University of Canterbury (UC) is further strengthening the Student Living Precinct at Ilam Campus with the introduction of the Tupuārangi residential hall. The 283-bedroom, eight-storey development will be managed by Unilodge and is designed to meet the needs of the tech-savvy Generation Alpha students who will be entering tertiary study over the next decade. The design, which was initially developed in partnership with Cedar Pacific, extends the pastoral care model developed for Tupuānuku. Each floor is arranged in collegial neighbourhoods of 40 students around a generous ground-floor recreational courtyard enhancing the UC first-year student experience.

Tupuārangi will provide a fully catered offering, including furnished ensuite bedrooms with views toward Ilam Gardens, study spaces, and shared lounges, all designed to enable the transition to independence while promoting socialisation, friendship, safety and wellbeing. Like its neighbour, Tupuārangi has been named by Ngāi Tūāhuriri after a star in the Matariki cluster, representing sustenance received from the upper canopies of Aotearoa New Zealand’s native forests providing both nourishment and resources for growth. 

Further considerations of the design include optimising the structure with a highly efficient spatial configuration, minimising construction-related impacts on the operation of the student living precinct at Homestead Lane, and enabling a fast-track construction methodology, ensuring the project opens in time for Semester 1, 2026.