Institutional Project

ARTO was awarded the project following an open design competition to create a concept for the new Māori Studies building at Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology; the site sits in close proximity to the campus Marae.

The unique shape of the building is derived from the concept of the ancestral shark, named Te Arawa, resulting in the building revolving round a curved tahuhu (spine) that runs both physically and visually through the building, not only linking the spaces throughout the facility, but also focusing the facility, and campus, towards the Tangatarua Marae.

ARTO’s design team felt that it was necessary for the concept of Te Wananga a Ihenga to illustrate an awareness and understanding of the Wairua (spirit) of the people that would come together in this building. The use of glass and exposed roof rafters of the spine can be seen to demonstrate the entry of knowledges into the building. This entry of knowledge is representative of the many cultures that will use the building, as well as demonstrating the story of the ‘three baskets of knowledge’.