Description:

Hauhake Hive is a regenerative garden space created as a shared amenity for a tiny house community and the wider public. It has been designed for growing, gathering, and giving. Born from a shared desire for connection, wellbeing, and environmental care, this project responds to cultural, ecological, and social values. It integrates rongoā Māori practices, promotes native biodiversity, and empowers the community through workshops on naturopathy and herbal healing. The project redefines the garden as a living, participatory space, enabling storytelling, self-sufficiency, and holistic health.

The core idea being a garden that grows for us, not just around us. Inspired by the rituals of tea, conversation, and care, the Hive becomes a functional sanctuary for harvesting and healing. Drawing on design thinking, we merged ecological restoration with human ritual, creating a place that nourishes people, land, and knowledge systems. Conceptually, it’s a hive, collaborative, intentional, and always in motion.

Warm timber cladding echoes the materiality of our tiny homes while embracing sustainability. Natural stone anchors the Hive to its environment. Native plantings such as Kawakawa, Harakeke, and Manuka sit alongside medicinal herbs like Mint and Lavender, creating an edible and healing landscape. Structures for drying and preparing teas offer both utility and community activation. Karakia are shared at planting and harvest, embedding the site in spiritual and cultural practice. Design solutions protect the māra from coastal exposure, and every element, from planting layout to material choice, serves both purpose and poetry.

Hauhake Hive regenerates socially, culturally, and ecologically. It restores native planting, supports pollination, shares indigenous knowledge, and invites collective wellbeing. By aligning environmental healing with daily ritual, the Hive becomes a model for sustainable living. Its impact grows beyond the site, shifting mindsets around land use, health, and shared responsibility.