A fully accessible hydrotherapy pool and multipurpose complex, delivered for the Ministry of Education on an operating special-school campus, with a tilt-slab structure, board-formed concrete and carved cultural detail.
Wairau Valley Special School needed a purpose-built aquatic and activity facility for ākonga with high and complex needs: a warm, calm, fully accessible environment where hydrotherapy and learning could happen side by side.
KDB delivered the project as main contractor on a live, operating campus, sequencing the build around term time so teaching and student safety were never compromised. The result pairs a robust, low-maintenance tilt-slab structure with genuine warmth: board-formed concrete and a carved cultural narrative woven into the façade.
See the galleryWairau Valley is a specialist school for students with high and complex needs. On a build like this, accessibility and sensory safety aren't features bolted on at the end. They shape every decision, from circulation and sightlines to the finishes underfoot.
The warm-water hydrotherapy pool is reached by a gently graded, fully accessible ramp with stainless handrails, so students can enter the water safely with support. Throughout, surfaces are slip-resistant, durable and easy to keep clean, and the spaces are kept calm and low-stimulation by design.
The complex is built around a tilt-slab structure: large reinforced-concrete wall panels cast flat on site, then craned and tilted into their final position to form the building's shell.
It's a fast, robust and low-maintenance way to build at scale, and well suited to a humid aquatic environment. Getting it right takes precision at every step: formwork, steel, pour and lift all have to be exact the first time.
A warm-water hydrotherapy pool sits at the heart of the complex, ringed by a generous, slip-safe concourse with clear sightlines for supervising staff. Natural light, calm tones and durable, easy-clean surfaces make it a space that works hard every day.
Running the length of the façade, a flowing kōwhaiwhai/koru motif is cast directly into the board-formed concrete, a permanent expression of identity and belonging woven into the fabric of the building.
Achieving crisp, repeatable relief detail in cast concrete is a craft in itself: formwork, mix and pour all have to be right the first time.
Cultural design credit to be confirmed; iwi / artist acknowledgement to be added before publication.
Alongside the pool, a large timber-floored multipurpose hall opens to the outdoors through a full glazed gable end, filling the room with daylight and a view out to the campus.
It's a room built to flex: assembly, therapy, sport and events, all with durable, warm finishes throughout.
Explore the finished hydrotherapy complex in a full interactive walkthrough. Move through the pool hall, multipurpose room and corridors at your own pace, on desktop, tablet or mobile.
Launch 3D walkthrough
Ministry of Education · Commercial · Multi-Residential · Residential. One main contractor, one standard, anywhere in Greater Auckland.
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