Judge's comments:

This is a wonderful facility which elevates and celebrates the role of water infrastructure in our communities.
The weaving together of landscape, kaupapa Māori, water and architecture has formed a sophisticated, layered experience that exceeds the stated design objectives.

Description:

Waiaroha invites you to discover the wonder of water in a sustainable green space built around a state-of-the art drinking water treatment plant that pulls wai from an underground aquifer. This award-winning facility is in the heart of Hastings.

The client, Hastings District Council, had three ambitious aims:
• To build a safe new drinking-water treatment system for the Heretaunga / Hastings district.
• To regain locals’ trust after the fatal Havelock North contamination crisis in 2016.
• To educate the public about how local water systems work.

Three local delivery teams – specialising in landscaping, architecture and visitor experience design – worked together to realise the project, in collaboration with Ngāti Kahungunu advisors and council teams.

The big idea was to create a seamless outdoor and indoor experience that would reveal and explain Heretaunga’s largely unseen world of water.

Outdoor space: I uta ki tai

Outdoors, the tranquil environment simulates the mountains to sea journey of Heretaunga water and is open 24/7 as a free public park. Pump, spray and twist at hands-on water stations and feel water from the underground aquifer at the wai ora rock. Follow colourful, interactive signs to learn about the water cycle. Rest under the shade canopy, look into the treatment plant and watch animations explaining how it works.

Indoor space: Te Whare Waiaroha

Nau mai, ka whakatōmene ai – welcome to Te Whare Waiaroha, a space for water learning and events. Play games, watch films, discover the atua of Heretaunga waters through carved and woven arts, play digital and tactile games and have your say.

‘The manaaki that has gone into Waiaroha can be felt from the moment you arrive.’ Visitor response, 2024

Outdoors

Waiaroha’s collaborative design wraps around a drinking water treatment plant and two 5-million-litre storage tanks. Walkways, natural waterways, carvings, water features, wayfinding and interpretive signs including depictions of atua and kaitiaki were brought together in a seamless journey.

Visitors follow water from an elevated starting point (the ‘misty mountains’) along gently sloping ‘rivers’, see it seeping into the aquifer and finally paddle in gentle ‘ocean’ waves.

Indoors

Te Whare Waiaroha is a kaupapa Māori learning space that radiates warmth and welcome. Its innovative blend of modern design and traditional arts celebrates local weavers and master carvers.

The space enables one-on-one activities like reading and games, as well as group talks and films. Mobile furniture can be moved aside for school groups or events, and a sound-reducing screen doubles as a wall for collecting visitor responses.

Sustainability

We aimed for eco-friendly solutions throughout the site, including:
• Reticulated water for outdoor features
• Rainwater collection for toilets and gardens
• Permeable concrete and native plantings
• Solar panels
• Table tops made of recycled fishing nets.

Waiaroha is a striking new model for public space design in Aotearoa.

It has made huge ripples by bringing hidden infrastructure into the public realm and using it to connect and educate.

The project won the Supreme Award at this year’s LGFA Taituarā Local Government Awards.

‘Waiaroha is world-first for combining education, community engagement, place-making, and state-of-the-art water management in a single project.’
Taituarā Chief Advisor Raymond Horan