As One New Zealand rolls out newly designed stores around the motu, many feature sustainable Kiwi design elements. The latest stores are newly-opened Chartwell Mall in Hamilton, opened on Thursday 13 July, and Queensgate Mall in Wellington, that will open on Thursday 20 July, totalling nine newly designed stores with more to come over the coming year.

The One NZ team is working with Warren and Mahoney Architects to incorporate sustainable materials within the new store design wherever possible. This includes:

• Tabletops and countertops made with recycled plastic and supplied by Critical.
• Arnold Circus Stool made in NZ from 100% recycled polyethylene plastic from Simon James.
• Pola Light Chair produced using low environmental impact process and recycled or recyclable materials from Harrows NZ.
• Prime Panels Toitū Veneer panels made from certifiably sustainable sources.
• Carpet tiles certified as recyclable from Interface’s Take back scheme.

Shane Woods, Head of Retail, says: “The rebrand provided us with the perfect opportunity to double down on NZ-made products within our retail stores. We’ve tried to prioritise sustainability and use recycled materials wherever possible. This includes working with some awesome Kiwi designers who are doing some incredibly innovative things. Our tabletops, stools, and chairs use recycled plastic – as do our new RE:MOBILE phone recycling bins that’ll be hitting stores soon, which are 3D printed.

“Our architects Warren and Mahoney really championed Kiwi design, and we’re so pleased with the result. At One NZ, our purpose is to unlock the magic of technology to create an awesome Aotearoa, and we are stoked our stores represent this. One NZ is proud to support local startups with sustainability as a core principle.”

A great example is the tabletop in the newly redesigned One NZ store at Queensgate Shopping Mall in Wellington, made by Critical. Every year, Aotearoa imports over 400,000 tonnes of plastics and throws 330,000 tonnes into landfill. The feature tabletop in the Queensgate One NZ store comprises approximately 9,000 pieces of plastic packaging and 36 metres of commercial plastic fishing nets, which were otherwise destined for landfill.

Shane adds: “We’re aware that our stores generate considerable plastic waste and rubbish, so we’re doing all we can to reduce this and reuse or recycle materials wherever possible. There is a lot of work still to do, and we are nowhere near perfect, but we’ve tried to incorporate sustainable materials wherever possible within our new stores to reduce our environmental footprint.”

Gareth Huston at Warren and Mahoney says: “Supporting ‘local’ is a key strategy for us when developing national design narratives. We design environments that support local customer and staff reciprocity through shared physical experience and connection and in doing this we support environmentally sustainable businesses such as Critical and Special studio to develop their innovative products utilised in the One NZ physical network.”

To check out the new store design, visit One NZ in Sylvia Park in Auckland, Rotorua, Bayfair in Tauranga, Cuba St in Wellington, Invercargill Central, New Plymouth and Cashel St in Christchurch.
For all store locations, please visit https://one.nz/help/store-locations/