Lesieli Tonga Auditorium

Nothing speaks of celebrating a moment in life quite like the spitting and eating of a pig, let alone 300 of them with three cray fish on each back. Lesieli Tonga is a conduit for the whole New Zealand Tongan community to celebrate what it is to be Polynesian and what it means to be Polynesian living in a foreign country under English Crown law. The Kingdom of Tonga is strong in its faith and none more so than the Free Wesleyan Methodist faith. The congregation in Mangere required an Auditorium that could cater for festivities and rituals that are unfamiliar to Anglo Saxon New Zealand. A metaphoric blanket ceiling of frangipani flowers has been laid over the walls of the space, symbolising the nurturing and warmth of humanity required to get on with life in a foreign land. The congregation voted to build it themselves with imported labour from the Islands and direction from the Architects on procedure and compliance. Awards NZIA Auckland Architecture Award 2017 - Public Architecture NZIA New Zealand Architecture Award 2017- Hospitality Resene Colour Award 2017 - Public Architecture Press A blanket of sweet frangipani: Lesieli Tonga Auditorium, Architecture Now, Sept 2017 A new focal point for Auckland's Tongan Community, Paperboy, May 2017 The winners of the 2017 New Zealand Architecture Awards, Paperboy, Nov 2017 Tongan meeting house wins major architecture award, Radio NZ, Nov 2017