| 55 AWARDS Dunning Thornton Project- The Woolstore T T Karen Phelps Waterfront development awarded The project repurposes the existing building to create a 600sqm public arcade and 1700sqm food hall marketplace. Photo: Jason Mann photography. Dunning Thornton has been named a joint winner at the 2026 Timber Design Awards in the commercial and industrial building category for its structural engineering work on Kai Tahi, a unique waterfront development that has taken a former industrial warehouse and dead-end service lane in Porirua and transformed it into a vibrant public destination. The project repurposes the existing building to create a 600sqm public arcade and 1700sqm food hall marketplace providing space for food businesses, small local enterprises, art and community activity. At the heart of the development is a new architectural axis intended to reconnect the city with its waterfront and draw people towards the town centre and Pātaka Art Museum. For structural engineers Dunning Thornton the project presented an opportunity to make the structure itself an integral part of the architectural experience. “Timber fundamentally enabled the project, allowing us to create an expressed structural form where structure becomes architecture,” says Dunning Thornton director Alistair Cattanach. “It gives the building a civic appearance while still being commercially economical.” He says the arcade’s striking structure takes the familiar concept of a tied timber arch and expands it into three dimensions. “The structural form is extremely innovative. Tied arches are not uncommon in timber construction but here the tied arch has been pulled into three dimensions, differentiating it from the existing two-dimensional steel shed. The resulting diagrid creates both the distinctive visual character of the space and the structural rigidity required along its length,” explains Alistair. He says its timber joints are also unusually simple. “Because the members remain in compression, the connections can use straightforward bearing plates, with small fins and self-drilling dowels providing additional temporary stability and resistance to out-of-balance loads.” The exposed glulam structure is complemented by a lightweight ETFE roof with triangular sections fitted directly to the timber rather than requiring secondary framing. Circular skylights and colourful yellow elements introduce changing patterns of light and colour throughout the arcade. The approach continues through the mezzanine, which provides quieter seating, a roof garden and outlook. It also includes kitchens, toilets and other supporting functions below. Alistair says its CLT construction was particularly important given the site’s challenging ground conditions. “With the development located on the water’s edge, liquefaction was a significant engineering consideration. Timber’s comparatively light weight allowed the mezzanine to be shallowly founded on the existing ground conditions, where a heavier conventional floor system may not have been viable. The lightness of timber essentially unlocked the engineering solution. The mezzanine would not have been possible in the same way with a heavier conventional material.” Prefabrication also contributed to the project’s efficiency. Timber and steel components for the arcade were assembled on the ground before being erected on site, reducing construction time and costs. A rolling scaffold provided access as the structure rose and prefabricated roof sections were lifted into position by mobile crane. The judges recognised the way the project combined innovation, aesthetics, functionality and sustainability. Rather than replacing the derelict industrial structure, Kai Tahi gives it a new commercial and community purpose with the exposed timber bringing warmth and “With the development located on the water’s edge, liquefaction was a significant engineering consideration.” NZ’S STRUCTURAL GLULAM TIMBER EXPERTS SINCE 1992. 0800 832 452 // techlam.nz Photo: Chris Burr humanity to the reused warehouse. “Leaving the timber exposed allows people to see the grain, laminations and knots, rather than hiding the material behind finishes,” says Alistair. “It creates a dynamic space with a sense of lightness and joy.”
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