Marae

Turangawaewae Marae

Location

Ngaruawahia, Waikato

Client

Turangawaewae Marae

Date

2012

Turangawaewae Marae is supremely important to Māori as seat of the Māori King Movement (Kingitanga) and official residence and reception centre for the Māori monarch.

Given the very significant heritage status of the marae buildings and their site, Salmond Reed Architects was engaged as both architect and heritage expert to design and oversee substantial refurbishments to both Mahinarangi wharenui (meeting house) and Turongo (royal residence).

Work included structural upgrading of Mahinarangi wharenui, bedroom and bathroom extensions and chimney strengthening in Turongo, integration of a ducted air conditioning system throughout both buildings, integration of a commercial kitchen, the addition of new kauta (food preparation) and taonga (treasured articles storage) buildings and plant enclosure facilities.

The project challenges mainly lay around applying twenty-first century techniques, materials and services and introducing new buildings, without adversely impacting on the heritage context.

A reverse building process was adopted in many cases with exterior ponga and weatherboard claddings being removed to accommodate structural bracing frames, while the sprinkler system was installed from the outside in, penetrating discretely into the intricately carved ceiling. Other new services were also introduced with great care so that the extensive building works, rather than adversely intruding upon these icons of Maori tradition, have instead served to complement and preserve them for future generations.

In 2012 the completed project earned an NZIA Waikato-Bay of Plenty Regional Award in the Heritage Category

Turangawaewae Marae 02
Turangawaewae Marae 03
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The former Auckland Chief Post Office is one of New Zealand’s most recognisable historic buildings. Salmond Reed Architects have provided specialist conservation advice since this iconic landmark, dating from 1912, was first converted into the Britomart railway station in 2004. The exterior has been restored as the cornerstone historic building of New Zealand’s largest transport infrastructure project, the City Rail Link.

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