Abstract

This article discusses the process of establishing a framework for retrofitting an existing structure to become a demonstration project for sustainable building and a facility to inspire responsible environmental behaviour in the community. It involves a disused log cabin at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Napier, New Zealand, which was previously used as an office and an artist-in-residence living space. The building is located on a site that has strong historic, cultural, and spiritual associations with local indigenous Māori. The research discusses the process of creating a brief for this specific building, given the wide, and sometimes conflicting, body of knowledge about what a sustainable building might be. There has been little architectural research into the effect of demonstration retrofitted sustainable buildings on educating people about what is possible. This project aims to fill this gap through producing such a demonstration building and measuring its effect on those involved in terms of the environmental values they hold. This article describes and discusses the first step in this process. This involved how design students went about creating a brief and design for the building, and the effect of the students’ involvement with the project on their environmental values. Interviews with these students highlighted the importance of living sustainably, valuing ecological, and organic living practices.