Overview

Air New Zealand’s Hangar 4, officially opened on 19 September 2025, is now the largest single-span timber arch aircraft hangar in the Southern Hemisphere. Measuring 98 metres wide and 35 metres high, the 10,000 sqm facility can simultaneously accommodate one wide-bodied aircraft such as a Boeing 777 or 787 Dreamliner alongside two Airbus A320/321s.

As the first aircraft hangar in the Asia Pacific region to achieve a 6-Star Green Star rating, Hangar 4 represents a benchmark in sustainable aviation infrastructure. Intelligent Environments was engaged to deliver a zencontrol DALI-2 lighting management system, ensuring the project met stringent performance, sustainability, and operational resilience requirements.

Objectives

Air New Zealand required a future-ready lighting control system that would:

• Support the airline’s Sustainable Building Guidelines and 6-Star Green Star certification.
• Deliver precise and consistent lux levels (400 lux within the hangar) suitable for detailed aircraft maintenance.
• Provide full asset visibility and reporting capability for facility managers.
• Integrate with ancillary building systems to optimise efficiency and safety.
• Meet high standards for security, resilience, and remote management.

Technical Challenges and Solutions

Large-scale lux control in a variable daylight environment

• The ETFE roof system delivers high levels of natural light that vary significantly throughout the day.
• Solution: Intelligent Environments installed and commissioned over 115 DALI PIR/lux sensors across 15 DALI control lines, enabling continuous lux sensing and dynamic dimming. This maintains a constant 400 lux environment for precision maintenance tasks, regardless of external light conditions.

Monitoring and compliance for emergency lighting

• Large-scale facilities require strict emergency lighting compliance, traditionally labour-intensive.
• Solution: Emergency lighting was fully integrated into the zencontrol system. Automated testing, scheduling, and reporting are available remotely, ensuring compliance with minimal manual intervention.

System security and resilience

• As a critical aviation facility, Air New Zealand required a high level of system security.
• Solution: Intelligent Environments configured the zencontrol system with restricted override access, ensuring only authorised personnel can make changes or bypass settings.

Project Partners and Collaboration

This project was delivered in close collaboration with a multidisciplinary team, including:

• Client: Air New Zealand
• Main Contractor: NZ Strong Group
• Electrical Contractor: McKay Electrical
• Lighting Controls Integration: Intelligent Environments Ltd
• Project Managers: TSA Riley
• Architects: Studio Pacific Architecture
• Engineers: AECOM, Holmes Group

Intelligent Environments worked closely with McKay Electrical and the wider design team to align lighting control strategies with Green Star requirements and Air New Zealand’s sustainability objectives.

Project Outcome

The completed lighting control system at Hangar 4 provides Air New Zealand with:

• Sustainability performance: Contributed to the hangar’s achievement of a 6-Star Green Star rating.
• Operational efficiency: Facility managers can monitor, schedule, and adjust lighting through Planview software with access to both live and historical data.
• Precision environment: Automated lux control ensures consistent lighting conditions for critical aircraft maintenance.
• Reduced compliance burden: Automated emergency lighting testing and reporting simplifies facility management.
• Future-proof resilience: Integrated security measures and scalable zencontrol architecture support Air New Zealand’s long-term operational goals.

Hangar 4 is more than a new building – it is a 50-year investment in sustainable aviation infrastructure, and Intelligent Environments is proud to have delivered a lighting controls solution that supports this vision.