34 | REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Sheppard & Rout Architects: Punangairi Visitor Centre T T Richard Loader Multiple awards for Punangairi centre The Punangairi Visitor Centre is a respectful and welcoming addition to the Punakaiki visitor experience. “…everything had to be woven together very carefully, and we tried to touch those natural elements as little as possible.” Beautifully blended with the West Coast forest and limestone landscape, the Punangairi Visitor Centre is a respectful and welcoming addition to the Punakaiki visitor experience. Designed by Sheppard & Rout, this stunning centre won the prestigious John Scott Award for Public Architecture at the 2025 New Zealand Architecture Awards. It has since won several other notable national and international awards. Some of the country’s best new public architecture was on the shortlist for the John Scott Award, which honours the memory of one of New Zealand’s most inimitable architects. In their award citation, the jury noted how the Punangairi Visitor Centre was superbly situated on its site, nestled amongst existing nikau palms. The citation highlights the building’s gentle insertion into the site through a series of curved elements and a sloping green roof, with the site itself well-utilised to provide a sense of generosity and welcome. Extensive use of timber ensures the centre has a reduced carbon footprint, with vertical poles around the outside echoing the vertical trunks of the nikau trees. “Some of those trees are over 100 years old, and so everything had to be woven together very carefully, and we tried to touch those natural elements as little as possible,” says Jasper van der Lingen, director of Sheppard & Rout. “We are very proud to have received the John Scott Award and a little surprised as well because there were some other very strong contenders for it too. “We’re honoured that Punangairi was selected as the best piece of public architecture in the country.” Sheppard & Rout won the tender for Punangairi at the end of 2019, with the final design evolving out of extensive ecological assessments and a close collaborative process with Ngāti Waewae, who own and operate the centre. “We had a really great team, including builder Naylor Love, project managers Dawn Lynn and Mark Webb from RCP, and in our office, Steven Orr [associate director], who played a key role in running the project and bringing it all together. Phil Rossiter and Fiona Pollard, from DOC [the client], were both instrumental in making it happen too. “The government of the day also deserves recognition for having the vision to provide funding for this project through the Provincial Growth Fund,” Jasper says. Much of the on-site team members that built the centre were West Coast locals, and plants for the green roof were grown locally. Jasper says consideration of place, community and cultural stewardship were pivotal in the design process. “Ngāti Waewae were involved from day one, and that partnership is deeply woven into the design. The exhibition room out the back of the centre also tells a lot of local stories about ARMOUR PLASTERING Interior Gib Stopper Great work with pride Skimming New Builds Renovations Stipple 23 years experience Bruce Henderson 021 166 7615 bruce271187@gmail.com Visionary design, meticulous craftsmanship Jason Mann Photography We’re very proud to have built the Punangairi Visitor Centre. www.lewisbradford.com Lewis Bradford celebrates the success of the Punangairi Visitor Centre, a true partnership project with Ngāti Waewae and the Department of Conservation. We are proud to have provided the structural engineering expertise. Congratulations to Sheppard and Rout on receiving the prestigious New Zealand John Scott Award for Public Architecture the environment and landscape, along with the cultural history of the area.” Sheppard & Rout received several other awards for Punangairi last year, including an Honourable Mention Award at the INDE Awards, which recognise some of the best work across the Indo-Pacific region. Punangairi was one of only two projects from Aotearoa to be shortlisted in the building category. The centre also received a silver in the Designers Institute of NZ Best Awards 2025. It has received international recognition too, winning an architectural design prize at the BLT Built Design Awards. At the 2025 NZ Architecture Awards, Sheppard & Rout was also presented with the Enduring Architecture Award for Tabak House, which was an inaugural project for the practice dating back to 1984. “Our founding director David Sheppard was there on the evening and able to receive that award. It was lovely for us to receive that award along with the John Scott Award,” says Jasper. This year is shaping up to be another fulfilling year for Sheppard & Rout, which has a number of other exciting and impactful projects underway and in development.
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