By Bonnie Jade Kake – Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whakaue, Te Whakatōhea
Matakohe Architecture + Urbanism is a kaupapa Māori design studio based in Whangārei. We work collaboratively with Māori communities to progress their marae, papakāinga and whenua development projects, and with mana whenua groups to express their cultural values and narratives through the design of their physical environments.
How many people are on your multidisciplinary team? What work do they undertake?
There are five of us. I look after overall practice management and lead out our architectural and urban design projects.
Hope Pūriri (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Awa, Tūhoe) has been with Matakohe for the past year. Hope has a background in spatial design background and leads our cultural design work, supporting our hapū to translate their needs, aspirations, values, history, sites and cultural narratives into built environment outcomes, as well as providing graphic design and architectural render support.
Nicki Wakefield (Ngāpuhi, Ngāi Tahu, Te Arawa, Te Whakatōhea) joined Matakohe in June and has a background in science education and ecology, as well as her most recent role as the Treaty claims administrator for Whangārei. Nicki is our placement for Ngā Hapū o Whangārei for the Whakamāhere project, funded by MBIE Vision Mātauranga. This two-year project will see the development of our cultural heritage archive and mapping tool for whānau and hapū use. The tool will be a resource for whānau and hapū use and control and will have design and resource management applications for projects within the Whangārei area.
Aleisha Wetere-Hepi (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine) does our bookkeeping and accounts admin.
Ana Linter-Cole (Ngāpuhi, Te Roroa) is the newest addition to our team and works with me on our architectural projects.
As a kaupapa Māori practice, how do you support Māori practitioners, and how do you think the field of architecture could do it better?
For many Māori in professional roles, there is a tension between our professional lives and ourselves as whānau and hapū members. Cultural expectations and responsibilities often come into conflict. It can be tough, especially working in mainstream practices where most of the Directors are non-Māori. I’ve been working really hard to create an environment where we don’t have to experience this conflict within ourselves. We’re whānau and hapū members first, and our professional lives (including Matakohe) only exist in service of that. There’s a clear order of priorities, which makes it easier, I think, to be our whole selves at work. It also helps being around people that are like you – it can be difficult and exhausting bridging that gap in understanding, even with well-meaning and sincere colleagues.
What services do you offer?
We support Māori communities and organisations to progress their papakāinga, marae, whenua development and commercial projects. We combine cultural and technical expertise to co-create a design process that takes into considerations the history, culture and aspirations of the whānau or community, allowing for maximum whānau input and engagement, and providing the expertise and assurance required to support effective decision-making.
Our team is equipped to manage projects from start to finish. We provide a coordinated range of services, including:
- Facilitating whānau visioning hui
- Providing advice on accessing funding and Māori Land Court processes
- Project planning
- Assembling an appropriate team for the project
- Providing ongoing project management and coordinating all consultants for the duration of the project
- Masterplanning and concept design
- Cultural mapping
- Facilitating co-design wānanga
- Assessing project feasibility
- Preparation and lodgement of resource consent applications (preliminary design) or equivalent (including Papakāinga Development Plans – Whangārei District Council).
- Preparation and lodgement of all documentation required to obtain building consent (developed and detailed design)
- Running the tender process and engaging and supervising the general contractor (procurement)
- Contract administration and observation
- Obtaining code compliance certificates (final sign-off) from Council
We also provide cultural design services, which means we work alongside hapū/mana whenua groups (mostly our own!) to articulate, interpret and express their cultural values, narratives, history and aspirations through the design of major civic, commercial and education projects. We also offer urban design services, which include masterplanning, preparation of urban design assessment, development of urban design policy and design guidelines, and facilitating hapū/mana whenua consultation processes.
What are you currently working on?
We’ve just wrapped up work on two papakāinga projects (Pehiāweri B1B and Te Rewarewa papakāinga) in Whangārei to preliminary design stage. We’re hoping the two Māori land entities that we are working with will be able to secure further funding and move into detailed design in the new year.
We’re also working with our hāhi, Te Hāhi Mihinare on an accommodation facility for tai tamariki (young people) associated with education and training in Kaikohe. We’re working in collaboration with Ana Heremaia (Ngāpuhi) and Maia Ratana (Te Arawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Raukawa) at ĀKAU studio (based in Kaikohe), and landscape architect Josephine Clarke (Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi, Te Rarawa, Te Aupōuri, Ngāti Kahu). It’s been amazing to be in a position to convene this dream team, and to work alongside such a phenomenal group of wāhine Māori.
We’re also working on masterplanning housing developments for Te Hau Ora o Ngāpuhi in Kaikohe and Te Waka Pūpuri Pūtea Trust (the commercial arm of Te Rarawa) in Kaitaia, as well as working on hapū input and the cultural design component of Whangārei Civic Centre, which will be a very significant project for our hapū in Whangārei.
For further information check out our website – www.matakohe.org.nz.
