Friedensreich Hundertwasser was one of the 20th century's most celebrated artists and became renowned for his revolutionary architecture.

The Austrian artist permanently moved to New Zealand in the 1970s and spent 30 years living near Kawakawa before his death in 2000.

Hundertwasser was invited by the Mayor of Whangarei to design an art centre for the city and he chose the former Northland Harbour Board Building in the town basin. More than 20 years after inception, the celebrated iconic landmark Hundertwasser Art Centre with Wairau Maori Art Gallery opened in February 2022, the last authentic Hundertwasser building in the world. The Austrian artist famously refused to use straight lines in his uniquely organic art and architecture because ‘there are no straight lines in nature’.

The brief

• A stylish, minimalist plumbing footprint and aesthetic, giving the art and architecture room to show its maximalist uniqueness, romanticism and creativity.
• Ecological sustainability being the main principle of the build, harness water-saving where possible. This magnificent building uses 40,000 recycled bricks, 1600 cubic metres of recycled native timber of the original building, 5,000 recycled pavers and 3,000m² of locally crafted tiles alongside enduring new material from NZ and Europe.
• Durable fixings to support high traffic with seven day a week operating hours and forecasted quarter of a million visits a year.

The solution

Delabie taps

The Delabie temposoft taps have a smooth design with soft touch operation, allowing ease of use for all ages. Pre-set at 3lpm (adjustable from 1.4-6lpm) these taps can achieve an 85% water saving.

The Delabie lever taps were installed in accessible bathrooms providing easy use for visitors and complies with NZ4121. With a set run time of approximately seven seconds both these taps ensure that water wastage is kept to a minimum.

RAK Resort Rimless Pan

RAK Resort Rimless Wall Faced Pan delivers the ultimate in hygienic toilet pans. Its Rimless technology ensures water is evenly projected around the front of the toilet pan giving a comprehensive clean flush. Rimless flushing makes it easier to clean and reduces bacteria and dirt by more than 90%.

Paired with the Zurn dual flush valve (ZDH-6152XL) it gives considerable water saving with a 3L half flush, achieving a 3 star WELS rating. The Zurn valve's proven consistent performance, and on demand flushing is a great solution for high foot traffic areas. The vandal-proof button panel provides ease of access for maintenance of the valve.

Chris Ford, Managing director of MacDonald Industries says, “Careful thought went into the selection of toilet and basin products for each stall to create a diverse array of selections, while the clean sleek forms of the RAK toilets provides a juxtaposition to the highly patterned walls and floors.”