By CUSTANCE
Te Āhuru Mōwai was established under a partnership agreement between the New Zealand Government and Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira (Ngāti Toa) to manage community housing in the Porirua Region. Originally providing base-build building upgrade services for the building owner, Custance were then commissioned to complete Te Āhuru Mōwai’s new home in the building.
Their new facility was designed to reflect the cultural identity of Ngāti Toa and provide an inviting, supportive and safe environment for all users who come from the richly diverse communities of Porirua. A palette of materials, colours and textures drawn from the local environment and many cultures bring connection, warmth and vibrancy to the office. A considered arrangement of spaces provides an open inviting feel that still provides safety for staff whilst supporting a balance of private and collaborative working environments
Over 30 years Custance has become a respected and multi-award winning practice. Using our collective knowledge, experience and empathy, we have created spaces that transform people’s lives and better equip them to accommodate change.
The tools we traditionally use are strategic planning, architecture, interior design and industrial design, however we have learned to wield them in different ways. We have developed these tools to allow people and organisations to experience space that is fully human and fully alive; space to live well, to create, to innovate and to grow – to enable face to face contact in a way that digital space does not.
Clients return to us in both New Zealand and for 14 years now, Australia, where we’ve built a multi-disciplinary, trans-Tasman practice that focuses on people and their well being, not just the places we build for them. We believe in human touch and those two words hold the secret of our longevity.
Before we begin any commission, whether a home , a corporate interior, a new building, an urban master plan or a strategic vision, we begin by discovering answers to fundamental human questions. Who? What? Why? For us these come before the traditional ‘where’, ‘when’ and ‘how’ of the brief and build specifications. They help us see beyond immediate needs. They help us understand people and design spaces that have enduring value.