2025 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards Winner
Te Wharewakaroa
An understated synthesis of pākehā modernism and Te Ao Māori. An ātea formed at the approach of this long house allows for mihi whakatau, and on being greeted and welcomed the whare is approached through the opua (verandah) space into the heart of the home. The form of the building is an extruded lean-to, one room deep with sitting, eating and cooking spaces defined by the post-and-beam rhythm of the structure. The form extends to sleeping spaces, connected through an open breezeway. Large sliding doors accentuate the whare’s connection to whenua with native planting crowding the building’s edges. Modern and timeless, this is a whare imbued with ‘wairoa’ that makes being home a spiritual experience.
- Practice
- Mercer and Mercer Architects Ltd
- Category
- Housing
- Location
- Waikato/Bay of Plenty
