Revamped Rangiora RSA attracts younger members
An extensive refurbishment of Rangiora’s RSA has helped boost the club’s membership, attracting younger patrons along the way, says its building committee chairman, Ross Ditmer.
He recently told Stuff the nearly $4 million upgrade had reinvigorated the club, attracting new members in their 20s.
The double skinned aluminium panels with profiled poppies provide dynamic street appeal. The lightwell between the panels allows light to escape through the profiled shapes on both sides.
Edge Landscape Projects handled the landscape architecture, charged with creating a welcoming entry, and an inviting courtyard allowing for seamless indoor/outdoor flow. The project involved extensive refurbishment of the existing RSA building to meet earthquake standards and included a new extension and main entranceway.
The facility was opened in stages in time to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI, ANZAC day and to celebrate Armistice Day.
The water feature was designed as a contemplative area of the courtyard with a small seat. The RSA members decided to honour the New Zealanders and locals who lost their lives at the Passchendaele conflict in Belgium in WWI by naming the water feature in their memory.
Design imagery at the entrance referenced the RSA logo and poppies to provide a colourful ‘wow factor’ for the street frontage. Contemporary Navy photos used on the cube seats provide colour to the functional artwork.
The ‘walled garden’ provides security and privacy using concrete block with coloured steel panels and timber gates providing material changes along the street edge. A wedge of honed exposed aggregate concrete pavers responds to recent town centre footpath upgrades and provides directional focus to the entry gate and covered walkway.
Bespoke seats - to the left in this photo - design to sub-divide the space provide and alternative to the tables and chairs.
The layout allows for spatial diversity with raised planters, bespoke seating, paving and areas of timber decking provide textural interest and colour.
Steel/timber clad posts extend out from the louvre covered outdoor area to further contribute to the warmth of the space. Other elements include a water feature dedicated to Passchendaele, pleached hedging and colourful planting.
Several cube seats clustered near the entrance. Galvanised steel frames with fixed steel panels and timber tops. The NZ Defence Force provided contemporary Navy images which were laminated to the steel panels by the local Horton Signs.
Lighting throughout, especially the feature poppy panels seen from the street, makes a vibrant statement about the sense of place and the night time experience special.
The main entrance off the carpark to the south was revamped with wide footpaths, cycle stands, new plantings, lighting and a spitfire mural.