This short documentary film explains the collaborative design process for the new airport terminal at New Plymouth – Te Hono. The project was an undertaking by Puketapu Hāpu, Papa Rererangi I Puketapu, Beca Architects and Cleland’s Construction. 

The film demonstrates how the design of the new airport terminal was created with the stories of the ancestral land and peoples woven throughout. The original 1960s terminal building had been outgrown by the people of New Plymouth and a new space was needed. With over 400,000 passengers utilising the terminal annually, the airport’s Chief Executive Wayne Wootton wanted a new “gateway” to the Taranaki region.

The design story is a complex one with many stakeholders and an immense sensitivity needed towards the land of the Puketapu Hāpu. New Plymouth District Council’s Gaye Batty says in the video, “…we stopped to pause and reflect on the fact that the site is the estate of the Puketapu Hāpu. People lived there and were buried there. So, it was time to find a new way and engage with Mana Whenua.”

“When we started this project,” Graham Crust – who lead the design team at Beca and is now a principal at G2 Studio – said, “it was very important to us that we created a gateway to the Taranaki region that reflected a very specific and particular sense of place.”

Watch the whole story here:

Learn more about the project and take an interactive tour of the terminal at beca.com.