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Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Canberra, Australia 2001

In collaboration with the sculptor Kingsley Baird, Studio Pacific won an international competition to design this memorial, sited on Anzac Parade in Canberra, to commemorate the relationship between Australia and New Zealand.

The purpose of the memorial is to express a shared historical, cultural, social, spiritual, economic and geographic closeness.

Woven from solid bronze, the final sculpture, representing the handles of a kete rising from the earth, was inspired by the Maori proverb “mau tena kiwai o te kete, maku tenei”, which translates loosely as “you at this handle, I at this handle of the kete”. The sculpture is a metaphor for cooperating, working together, sharing experiences and, in wartime, sharing the load of losses. Eight bronze niho niho or triangular teeth at the base represent the emerging rim of the basket, strengthening the link between the handles and the ground. The text of Jenny Bornholdt’s specially commissioned poem is cast into the niho niho.

The paving beneath the handles is also significant, with the eastern side bearing a Maori design and the western an Aboriginal design. The centre stone on the eastern side is granite taken from the Coromandel Peninsula and placed over soil taken from Chunuk Bair, where New Zealanders fought at Gallipoli and a piece of Australian granite covers soil from Lone Pine, where Australians fought. Both countries’ prime ministers conducted a ceremonial opening of the new memorial on Anzac Day 2001.

Studio Pacific Architecture
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Studio Pacific was established in Wellington in 1992 by the three directors: Nicholas Barratt-Boyes, Stephen McDougall and Evzen Novak.

Prior to establishing the studio, all three directors studied and/or worked together in New Zealand before working for a period in Europe: Evzen studied in Berlin and worked in Switzerland and London, while Nick and Stephen were based in London and worked on projects throughout the U.K. and Europe.

The collective international experience gained by the directors in Europe set the platform and influenced the direction of the practice. From early design competitions and small residential commissions, Studio Pacific has evolved into an award-winning substantial and creative practice with diverse projects throughout New Zealand. Particular recognition has been given to the studio for working with the arts, urban regeneration, housing, masterplanning and contemporary workspace planning.

Studio Pacific undertakes a large range of projects, from small individual furniture items to large projects involving entire new towns. Our small-scale work includes new houses, additions and alterations, and retail work. Our larger schemes include large multi-unit residential and commercial buildings as well as masterplans and landscaping.

We enjoy having a mix of project sizes and types in the studio – each project has different challenges, and offers varied opportunities for us to express our creativity in response.