the pink one

Building 6 is a two-storey building located at MOTAT’s Great North Road site. It was originally constructed in 1972 as the ‘Exhibition Hall’ with a viewing mezzanine, four turrets (one with a periscope) and an adjacent tram workshop. The canopy lean-to located to the east of the building is a later addition, currently providing shelter for two trams. The building is a steel framed structure with concrete columns, clad and roofed in profiled sheeting.

The refurbishment works to Building 6 at MOTAT were undertaken to provide an environmentally controlled exhibition space for an international travelling exhibition.

Resene Irresistible (desire red) was selected for the exterior on Building 6, now affectionately known as ‘The Pink one’. The selection and rationale of colours for Building 6 were a product of working with the existing – in the case of the exterior, Resene Irresistible which covered every brick, downpipe and barge flashing of the building. Resene Hero (knocked back orange) was almost an immediate contender for the HVAC ducting.

For various reasons, the air handling unit was to be located externally on the ground floor. This proved to be a challenging exercise of locating the rather large 900 diameter ducting on a large steel ladder adjacent to the building to get the ducts and fresh air snorkel up onto the roof. Cognisant of its size and its addition to the reading of the building’s elevation, rather than hide it, it has been celebrated with colour; Resene Hero glows almost yellow in the sun and becomes more orange later on in the day.

Much of the interior of the exhibition space was already painted in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in a custom mixed Persian Night, a special order colour by MOTAT. It’s not quite black, dark red or dark brown but somewhere between all of these. It’s become the ideal ‘black out’ paint for exhibitions in this space, as it allows for a reading of the depth of the room when required and still feels warm.

The other colour selected was Resene Baltic Sea (dark charcoal). It’s the topcoat for the primary steel of the entrance canopy. This darkish grey, not yet blue was selected for its subservient and complementary relationship with the timber deck, which its columns perforate. The canopy’s soffit was also painted Resene Hero, with the intention that the client will change the colour to complement each new exhibition in the space.

This project won the Resene Total Colour Commercial Exterior Award. The judges said “this building truly embraces its chosen palette, earning its new nickname as The Pink One. The brave and bold colour palette pops out of its surroundings and is a striking contrast to the dark interior. Drawing attention, it has become the colourful heart of MOTAT and a popular meeting spot; you could never mistake this building for any other.”

Architectural specifier: Athfield Architects Limited
Building contractor: C3 Construction
Client: MOTAT – The Museum of Transport and Technology
Colour selection: Graham Cooper (MOTAT) and Athfield Architects Limited
Photographer: Mark Scowen
Winner: Resene Total Colour Commercial Exterior Award
Project: Resene Total Colour Awards 2019
From the Resene News – issue 2/20