| 59 Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. Each edition priority delivered to your door. i i i i li . www.waterfordpress.co.nz/subscriptions . t f . . / i ti 03 983 5525 Stay informed; we work with business owners and decision-makers across all economic sectors, profiling their success. t i f r ; r it i r i i - r r ll i t r , r fili t ir . businessnorth T T Kelly Deeks Locals embrace new cultural centre Whangārei’s riverfront cultural centre, Hihiaua Cultural Centre. Moller Architects ARCHITECTURE The start of construction of stage two of Whangārei’s riverfront cultural centre, Hihiaua Cultural Centre, is now eagerly anticipated by the Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust and the wider community. Designed by Moller Architects, it is expected to be as successful as stage one, the workshop, meeting, education, and exhibition spaces that opened in 2019. Also designed by Moller Architects, stage one was the actualisation of Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust’s vision for a facility that would raise awareness through education and exhibition of the arts and crafts of the local iwi of Whangarei and Northland. Its site on the Hihiaua Peninsula had an existing boat shed, which was transformed into the Whare Toi to house, display, and further a range of traditions and craft activities. It includes a kitchen and meeting space on the new mezzanine floor and a laboratory space on the ground floor. Alongside the Whare Toi, a new Whare Waka was built to house, protect, display, and launch, via gantry onto the Hatea river, the collection of existing and under-construction waka. Roofed but with open sides, it enables waka to be viewed at any time through slatted timber screens. The Whare Toi and Whare Waka are connected by a canopy walkway, which provides a generous sheltered space for a range of activities, and connection with the wider public. Since 2019, Hihiaua Cultural Centre has become known as a space that people want to use, and community groups can afford. Its visibility and flexibility has made it enormously successful within the local community, and it has hosted conferences, events, and exhibitions, including more than 40 wananga and workshops in the past year alone. Stage two is a new, two-storey building that comprises a much larger display area to allow more space for carving activities in the Whare Toi, more offices, meeting rooms, and public conveniences, and a performance space opening out on to the peninsula for a stunning and beautifully landscaped amphitheatre. Also in stage two is an existing restaurant, which is currently being refurbished with new roofing, new commercial kitchen, new toilets, and new windows and doors to really open up this centre of hospitality for Hihiaua Cultural Centre. Architect Craig Moller says this project is the result of a very clear vision and intention by Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust. “It’s not just for weaving and carving, it’s for engaging the wider community,” he says. “What we’ve done is to help facilitate that vision and intent. We’re pretty excited about this unique design and we’re looking forward to seeing it built.” Craig says Hihiaua Cultural Centre’s position in the community means it leads by example, and stage two has been designed with a focus on sustainable features. Its renewable timber structure, solar panels, rainwater retention tanks, strategically placed openings, roof overhangs, and passive roof ventilation could mean the building will operate passively most of the time. Craig says Moller Architects is privileged to be involved. “The trust and the trustees are fantastic clients, and making something for the community is incredibly rewarding for an architect. Seeing people using and enjoying a new facility and in some ways improving their lives is hugely rewarding.” Engineering Northland Since 1952 www.RSEng.co.nz 09 438 3273 Civil Structural Geotech Work with the best. Providing you with a trusted and reliable service all round from site works to finished landscapes, for new home builds, renovations, repairs, new or re-roofs in Whangarei and around Northland. CALL 022 353 0227 kaparua@hotmail.com www.kapabuild.co.nz
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