Opouriao Tuhoe Co-op

Opouriao Tuhoe Co-op

The project is a renovation of the Opouriao Dairy Co-op in Ruatoki, Te Urewera, into a Tūhoe events center. Tūhoe are the Māori tribe that are tangata whenua (people of the land) to Te Urewera in the middle of the North island, New Zealand. The design was driven through explorations of Tūhoe identity. Tūhoe are bound through layers of ancestors, histories and narratives with the land of Te Urewera. Poetry, prose, drawing and model making were used to investigate these layers and to create a contemporary architecture that represents and supports Tūhoe.