The Lifetime of a Building, The Responsibility of a Designer

Every architect or architectural designer in New Zealand who applies for building consent faces the same question.

“Is this building designed and intended to last at least 50 years?”

I believe many hesitate for a moment before clicking “Yes.” Others might simply press the button without a second thought, without attaching any meaning to it.

I always belong to the former. Every time I click “Yes,” I do so with a heavy sense of responsibility pausing to reflect on my project and asking myself once more:

The work I have fallen in love with will it really be okay? Will it truly last at least 50 years?

Beyond the Building Act 2004 and the Building Code, I ask myself and my team.

From an aesthetic perspective, from an urban planning perspective, will this building truly stand here for more than 50 years? Will people still love it then? Will it harmonise with the city around it? If not, is it right for me to click “Yes”?

I believe this is the philosophical question every designer must face.

I am a Licensed Building Practitioner who has been designing architecture for more than 15 years in Spain, Korea, and here in New Zealand, Aotearoa, yet I still hesitate to say with certainty that any design will have a 50-year lifetime. Who truly knows?

Government planning strategies and housing development policies may change. The site might gain more potential than I originally envisioned, and the building could be demolished after 10 or 49 years due to these changes. Or a devastating natural disaster like the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake or Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023 might strike and sweep it away.

I am not a psychic, nor someone with supernatural powers who can see the future. I cannot guarantee that this building I cherish will still stand 50 years from now. Yet I dream that it will be loved for 50, even 100 years living on through generations, blending naturally into the urban landscape, and enduring through time.

And so, I click “Yes” with that architect’s mindset, with that sense of responsibility, as part of my profession.