Te Ngākau Civic Center
Te Ngākau Civic Centre involved unpacking the sites natural and cultural history while weaving in a visionary future for Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington.
Lead
Pou Architecture, Differential
location
Te-whanganui-a-tara wellington, aotearoa New Zealand
Size
74635m2
Date
2023
Type
Public programme
SCOPE
Concept design
In response to Wellington City Council's call for proposals, Te Ngākau emerged as a collaboration between Differential and POU Architecture.
The proposal strategically addresses existing challenges within the civic centre, addressing issues of visual permeability, convoluted multi-level operations, and confusing wayfinding resulting from decommissioned structures.
Te Ngākau envisions a transformation of the site into the beating heart of Wellington CBD, serving as a dynamic and iconic link between the city and the waterfront. Seamlessly bridging Courtney Place and the Lambton Quay business district.
Concept
Our design drew inspiration from the Kawakawa leaf, informing a programme that iterated through thousands of layout options that considered environmental, contextual, heritage and economic dimensions.
Multi-objective Optimization
The project team devised a simple framework to organise the programme that was inspired by the Kawakawa leaf & the Looper moth - both indigenous to Aotearoa NZ.
The Kawakawa (multi-objective) framework, based on a series of positive and negative "ions" iterated through thousands of layout options while considering environmental, contextual, heritage and economic dimensions.
1 - Market hall / public amenity. 2 - Residential / Office / Teritiary. 3 - Residential / Office / Tertiary. 4 - Retail. 5 - Auditorium. 6 - Refurbished Library. 7 - Walkway / shading canopy. 8 - Waharoa. 9 - Refurbished bridge. 10 - Plaza / Wetland landscaping
