The redevelopment of this key waterfront site on Marine Parade in Napier has given new life to the area by connecting the city to its coastline and replacing a waterfront carpark with a significant public space that reflects the natural and cultural landscape of the bay. 

With the adjacent former Marine Land site - which has been redeveloped into a multi-purpose skate, event and entertainment facility - this new coastal public space is injecting activity and energy onto the city’s coastal edge and providing coastal pathway users a reason to stop and engage.

A key part of the Marine Parade Napier Redevelopment project was developing the landscape and cultural narrative of the site with artist Jacob Scott, who also created the integrated and stand-alone artworks.

The design of the park references the former gravel spit on which the site sits: a threshold between the Pacific Ocean and the former lagoon upon which Napier was eventually developed. The design looks east to the horizon and frames the views and landscape connections to Cape Kidnappers/Mataupo Maui and Mahia Peninsula.

Local connections to pioneers such as sea-faring tupuna, and to Maui himself, are integral to the mana, the narrative and the structure of the project. With this bay being the fin of the stingray caught by Maui (Te Ika-a-Maui), and with views to Cape Kidnappers (Maui’s hook), this narrative is a pivotal informer of the design.

The site itself is carved to create routes and spaces along the transition from the civic landscape of the Sunken Gardens to the more open coastline – a journey that uses water as its connecting element.

The planting character reflects the rugged and exposed coastal environment to the East, transitioning to the shelter of the estuarine environment to the West. Large seating elements are dropped on the site, sitting comfortably adjacent to the driftwood which comes and goes from the site in response to high tides and storm surges.

Project team

• Yoko Tanaka
• Kieran Dove

Worked with

• Paris Magdalinos Architects
• Jacob Scott – Artist and Architect
• RICH Landscapes