NZ’s Opus Architecture matching world’s best

Media Release: August 25 2009

NZ’s Opus Architecture matching world’s best

Opus Architecture team leader Eqo Leung was stunned when he collected the one and only NZ Architecture Medal earlier this year.

But the self-effacing 36-year-old says he is totally shocked to learn that he and his team are finalists in the World Architectural Festival (WAF) Awards to be held in Spain in November.

Architects from more than 80 countries attend the WAF and Opus’s design of The Wilson School at Takapuna, North Shore City, will be looked at by more than 2000 of the world’s top architects.

David Quinlan, National Architecture Manager for Opus, is proud of his team, which embraces many cultures and ethnicities. Eqo Leung was a teenage migrant to New Zealand with his family from Hong Kong. When he graduated from the University of Auckland he got his first job making models.

Now Leung is to present at WAF on how he found inspiration for the project – a finalist in the learning category of the awards. The likes of architectural greats such as Robert Stern and Lord Norman Foster also give seminars at the festival.

The Wilson School has already attracted attention from international educationalists as a model for a purpose-built school for special needs students. Specialised facilities include six classrooms, a multi-purpose space and specialist therapy rooms.

The Wilson School board and staff have acknowledged Eqo for listening to their needs and creating a building that blends beautifully with its tree clad site on Lake Rd, between Takapuna and Devonport.

The citation for the NZ Architecture Medal includes the statement: “an unwavering focus on the wellbeing of the pupils and staff and a genuine spirit of collaboration, have allowed architect and client to create an extraordinary building, full of hope. It makes for architecture at its finest.”

New Zealand has four other finalists in WAF 2009. They include Fearon Hay (Northern Club) Pacific Environments (Yellow Treehouse Restaurant), RTA Studio (Ironbank), Warren and Mahoney (NZi3 Innovation Institute).

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