About

BACKGROUND

In December 2023, after many years of prayer and planning, Laidlaw College Henderson campus moved to 3 Smythe Road, just down the road from our previous location in 80 Central Park Drive, Henderson.

With this move came the opportunity to embed ourselves more deeply in our local community, intentionally continue to outwork our mission of equipping and renewal, and re-imagine how we might tell our story in this new space.

The Team

Brand new walls and a very practical need to have some kind of application on our glass windows and doors resulted in a project to beautify this blank canvas. We drew inspiration from a number of sources; researching local and national flora and fauna and the meaning they hold for Māori; historical church architecture and art; Pasifika and Māori art and design; the story of Scripture; and our aspirations for the student journey.

Preliminary meetings with our Pou Amorangi/Māori Director Bradford Haami and National Principal Roshan Allpress helped solidify the story we wanted to tell across our walls.

After initial story mapping was done, visual language honed, Project Lead Sasha McPherson and Designer Pio Mulipola pulled together a representative group of Laidlaw staff from across the College for further story collaboration. Concepts were presented and feedback sought as we workshopped the story and its visual interpretation. This happened a number of times over the course of the project timeline.

The final outcome tells the story of creation, through to new creation, and takes the viewer on a journey through the Bible. The use of bright colour, and bold and symbolic imagery coupled with modern Māori/Pasifika design contextualises the story of our faith in a truly unique way.

The Team

Dr Roshan Allpress - National Principal

Bradford Haami - Pou Amorangi

Sasha McPherson - Project Lead

Pio Mulipola - Artist

Doreen Alefaio
Lisl Baker
Dr Julia van den Brink
Miriam Jessie Fisher
Rev. Dr Graeme Flett
Rev. Dr Mark Keown
Dr Ryan Lang
Jenny Mackie
Rev. Joey Millington
Sharon Pihema
Dr Terry Pouono
Gina Siaosi

Esther Sila’i’la’i
Lorraine Taogaga

Special Thanks

We could not have completed this project without the dedication and support of some key people and organisations.

We’d like to first acknowledge our architects Jane Hill and her team at ChowHill. An absolute pleasure to work with within the garden theme envisaged for this campus. Gracious with timings, and collaborative as we worked on setting a base for the narrative to shine.

We acknowledge our printers Richard Davy from SCG, who worked with us across the project offering expert advice on our print finishes and solutions. Ever helpful and accommodating of our big dreams and considered budget.

We thank Nigel Smith, project lead for the new campus. Juggling a hundred things at once he always had time to answer our questions, help us fit in with the build timeline, and was a wonderful and empathetic partner to our cause. 

Key Themes

Colour

Bold and bright colours reflect not only the intention of our organisation to inspire boldness and courage in our sharing and outliving of faith, but also the beauty found in the diversity of our make-up. Cross generational, inter-denominational, multi-cultural - our community is vibrant and varied. Distinct tones and colour palettes reflect the flavour of each stage in the biblical story.

Style

Abstract and graphic, the narrative design style is descriptive yet leaves room for interpretation. Iconic visual language enables the retelling of repetitive themes throughout the campus reiterating key story elements.

Branches

As the framework to this design, and set within the overall theme of garden, branches weave throughout the design. Reminiscent of stained glass windows found in church buildings throughout history, they frame the colour and life found in the designs. Branches intersect, overlap, and run parallel, reflecting the nature of relationships in life’s journey.

Birds

Indicators of the health and flourishing of a garden, birds appear in every space. As the breath of God brought the earth to life, our birds sing to one another across the campus, reflecting the calling to life of creation. As our students join us on campus, coming and going from the garden, they too are indicators of the health of our campus. We pray their song will be as the birds, singing praise to their Creator God in and through their everyday being.

Bird Song

In most of the areas that carry a feature bird, a sound semicircle is present. Not only is this a visual representation of birdsong, but also a graphic depiction of the presence of the Spirit throughout the campus.

Scripture

The Bible is a foundation for our faith and our College. Throughout the designs sections of horizontal lines replicate the pages of scripture.

Language

Special attention has been given to language. Recognising te reo Māori as our nation’s first language it appears as the first words in our narrative, the scripture of John 1 on the creation wall. Hebrew is found in the Kingdom space, and a global range of languages are found on our depiction of the Acts scene on the Kiwi room facade.

Throughout this project we leaned on our colleagues for their wisdom and knowledge. Having representatives from across our staff team participate in workshops was a real highlight, and has meant we have a deep and layered story, rich in language, meaning and culture. For all of you we are so grateful. 

We would also like to acknowledge all our narrative readers, enabling us to create an online listening option for our tour.

Right from the start, we needed to get our story straight. Having mapped out most of the design layout across the three floors, we gratefully engaged National Principal Roshan Allpress in the story-telling process on his return from sabbatical in 2022. He brought so much added layering and depth to the story. We are so grateful also for his creative mind which dreams big dreams, and was behind us all the way on imagining this for our campus and community.

Pou Amorangi Brad Haami spoke to us about the hidden kingdom and te ao Māori, and we lapped it up. We are so grateful for his guidance, from helping us with bird selection, through to finer theological nuances.

We also thank the Laidlaw College Foundation who made this all possible! The new campus was their build project and this just one aspect of it. We are so grateful to have had the opportunity to work on this project.

Four Affirmations

Four affirmations, which guide the purpose of our College, can be found across the narrative. The Bible is our Story, Jesus is our Lord, the Church is our Community, Renewal is our Vocation.

Repeated Design Strip

Along the glass spaces that don’t carry floor to ceiling narrative, routed into the centre beams in the feature ceilings, and heat-pressed into autex wall coverings, we have a repeating pattern. You’ll see Scripture lines, the forest/flourishing branches, bird/spirit song. Telling the story of a flourishing learning space, which embeds its foundation in Scripture, and enlivened through the Spirit. Find out more