The Hihiaua Cultural Centre by Moller Architects was named winner of the 2020 John Scott Award for Public Architecture at this year’s New Zealand Architecture Awards. In combining the traditional whare vernacular with that of an industrial shed, Moller Architects has created a thriving community space that celebrates culture, craftsmanship and learning.

Jury citation

The Hihiaua Cultural Centre asks not what architecture is in terms of materiality, but what architecture can do in terms of social value. Embracing the adjoining industrial estate vernacular, this whare as warehouse incorporates a Whare Toi, for Māori arts and craft, and a Whare Waka, for canoe restoration. The latter space belies the project’s identity by eschewing Western notions of floor in favour of (earthen) ground. As with a traditional whare, the Hihiaua Cultural Centre has what one can read as a mahau, or porch. Yet this porch is massive: being four metres wide and 60 metres long, extending along the full face of the building for accommodating outdoor social activities.

Moller Architects project description

This project is the first in a multi-stage development, located on the Hihiaua peninsula adjacent to the Hātea River in Whangārei, for the Hihiaua Cultural Centre Trust. The objectives for the trust, and the brief for the building, are to raise awareness of the arts and crafts of the local iwi through education and exhibitions.

Stage 1 incorporated an existing boat shed and transformed it into the Whare Toi to house a range of activities. A new mezzanine floor includes kitchen facilities and meeting space; a laboratory space was added on the ground floor, which also has a display area. A raised floor allows visitors to view the centre’s activities. Alongside the Whare Toi, the new Whare Waka, roofed but open to the sides, protects and displays the collection of waka; a gantry facilitates the launching of waka into the adjacent river. A canopy deck connects the two buildings and provides a generous sheltered space, slatted screens provide shade and privacy, and the mix of raw and finished materials acknowledges the existing boat shed and New Zealand’s rural and industrial vernacular traditions.

The sustainability approach involved using and re-purposing as much as possible of the existing structure, designing for solar gain and the provision of shade and natural light.

See all the winners from the 2020 New Zealand Architecture Awards here.