2025 Wellington Architecture Awards Winner
Te Mako - Naenae Community Centre
This project exemplifies the transformative power of grassroots mobilisation in achieving significant community outcomes within the built environment. A heritage-listed Category 1 building, formerly the Naenae Post Office—a vital business and social hub—faced potential conversion into a destructive liquor store after its 2015 closure. Instead, the community's impassioned petition to the local Council successfully reclaimed the facility as a community hub. Through thoughtful, subtle interventions, the building has been revitalised into a flexible, light-filled space that honors its heritage while providing a versatile canvas for diverse community needs. Simple additions, such as a large, circular stainless-steel island in the commercial kitchen, foster connection, shared meals, and cross-cultural interaction, reinforcing the project's central purpose as a vibrant community hub.
- Practice
- Architecture HDT Ltd
- Category
- Heritage
- Location
- Wellington
