The Claudelands Showgrounds has been transformed into a high-quality modern events centre with the addition of this versatile building. Located alongside a busy road, next to an existing exhibition hall and adjacent to an area of native bush, the building seeks to engage with the cultural and ecological history of its site, originally named Te Papanui or “bird square”. Louvres and slot windows on the façade evoke the colour and movement of birds in flight and angled columns represent the toa poles once used to hunt them, and the design of an interior wall was inspired by the concept of a cloak of feathers.