The Aotea Centre, designed by architect Ewen Wainscott, opened in 1990. Managed by Regional Facilities Auckland, the Aotea Centre is a performing arts and events centre, home to New Zealand’s largest tiered auditorium, a black box theatre, function rooms, and BOX Café and Bar. The centre hosts a wide variety of events and arts companies including the New Zealand Opera and the Royal New Zealand Ballet, live music, and large conventions.
The phased development to refurbish the Centre to enable innovative performing arts activities began in 2013 to include two theatres: the 2139-seat ASB Theatre, and the 186-seat Herald Theatre. The current phase is focused on modernising the exterior and upgrading the interior with an open design, expansive foyers. Simultaneously the HVAC system is being upgraded to offer the best internal comfort.
The new air-conditioning system is based on Climaveneta branded units: 4 multipurpose heat pumps ERACS2-Q XL-CA, which produce hot and cold water simultaneously and independently, while guaranteeing optimal comfort all-year round. The whole is system is managed and optimized by ClimaPRO, the Climaveneta plant room optimisation and control system, able to actively optimize the energy efficiency of the entire HVAC system through the management and control of each component directly involved in the production and distribution of thermal loads.