Mazin Bahho has driven the initiative to upgrade the log cabin.

In refitting a derelict log cabin to become a model for sustainable building, ideaschool lecturer Mazin Bahho found people became more involved as the upgrade began to take shape.

Mazin initiated the project as research for a thesis towards a PhD in architecture.

The Iraqi-trained architect has co-authored a research paper titled Buildings that teach: a strategy for sustainable design, which tracks the impact of the project on those approached to help. Mazin, Brenda Vale and Taciano Milfont found active involvement only increased as work on the building gained momentum and the project became physically real.

Adjoining the former Ōtatara fortified village, the hillside site has historical, cultural and spiritual significance for local Māori.

The cabin, clad in rustic douglas fir logs, has been associated with EIT since its construction in 1986 when Para Matchitt and Jacob Scott established the institute’s visual arts and design programme.

Once used as staff office space, it later provided accommodation for an artist in residency.

Unused for some years, its refurbishment, planned by a group of six second-year ideaschool students under Mazin’s supervision, includes double glazing, insulation, solar panels, a rainwater collection system, a passive solar store concrete floor and a greenhouse addition for growing native seedlings.

Mazin expects to complete his doctorate early next year and says the cabin will be used as a teaching resource by EIT, schools and community groups interested in sustainability.