Auckland Museum Wins National Acclaim At New Zealand Architecture Awards

In 2021, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum completed a series of major transformations to its visitor experience. After being closed for approximately 18 months, Auckland Museum’s South Atrium entry precinct Te Ao Mārama re-opened to its public, with new experiences, amenities, artworks, food and retail offers.

This revitalised space, revealing the most significant changes to the Museum in more than a decade, has now been recognised by the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) at its annual New Zealand Architecture Awards, winning nationally in three categories: Public Architecture, Heritage and Hospitality. The space had previously won awards at the local Auckland NZIA Architecture Awards.

This national achievement recognises Auckland Museum and its architects, Jasmax with FJMT, designTRIBE, and Salmond Reed Architects. In addition, Jack McKinney Architects have been recognised for a Hospitality award for the fit out of the Tuitui Bistro & Café.

“We are thrilled for the Museum’s transformation to be recognised nationally, and to win in three categories in these prestigious, peer-reviewed awards,” says Dr David Gaimster, Chief Executive of Auckland Museum. “Te Ao Mārama is respectful of the building’s heritage, while integrating bicultural concepts that deepen engagement with the Museum’s collections and stories. The new precinct, with its full reveal of the unique suspended Tanoa architecture, celebrates our place in the culture and cultures of 21st-century Tāmaki, Aotearoa and the Pacific,” explains Dr Gaimster.

“Previously, what felt very much like the back door of a public building now provides a visually stunning museum arrival and orientation experience with world-class hospitality and retail,” says Gaimster. “The South Atrium has been given greater cultural dignity, transforming it into a generous entry precinct where all visitors are welcomed with manaakitanga.”

“It is a space which reinforces the relevance of the Museum to its many diverse audiences, cementing its position as a civic anchor and major tourist attraction.”

The New Zealand Architecture Awards is a peer-reviewed programme run by the NZIA with the support of Resene and APL to identify the year’s best architecture across New Zealand. This year’s awards jury was convened by Wellington architect Sharon Jansen, and comprised Gary Lawson (Stevens Lawson Architects,) John Hardwick-Smith (Athfield Architects) and Hamilton's Grant Edwards (Edwards White Architects).

Sharon Jansen, convenor of the National NZIA jury, says, “As jurors, we aim to assess the essence of each project - its siting, its expression and function, its place in the built environment, and how it contributes to the life of its occupants and community. While we may have varied opinions and approaches, we all seek that intangible ‘magic’ that is manifest in a site visit. This is when we can see and feel architecture’s ability to improve lives and uplift the human spirit.”

Te Ao Mārama South Atrium impressed the judges who described it as an exemplary project that threads a series of bold new architectural elements and integrated artworks through the accumulated layers of the existing Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum, transforming it into a cohesive entity fit for its multicultural future. “New spaces and linkages have been elegantly designed to connect rooms and navigate between existing layers of heritage fabric, choreographing visitor flow through the building, as well as telling its story.”

“Through diverse and responsive stakeholder engagement, and respectful intervention with heritage, this collaborative team has created critical new connections and facilitated improved accessibility on multiple levels with a broadened cultural relevance to Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum.”

Project Architect, Marianne Riley from the architectural joint venture of Jasmax with FJMT and designTRIBE says, “It has been an honour to work with the Museum and support its vision to fulfil the building’s potential as a welcoming, relevant, and accessible space for all manuhiri / visitors. Te Ao Mārama is the result of weaving together knowledge of cultural stakeholders, museum expertise and collaborative design thinking, providing space for bicultural innovations and a place of belonging for mana whenua. The resulting spaces create an elevated cultural experience for all manuhiri to arrive and connect to the Museum, its place and people.”

The Museum’s new bistro and cafe, Tuitui, situated within Te Ao Mārama, designed by Jack McKinney Architects, won the Hospitality category. It was acclaimed by the judging panel for “details that are both sweet and robust, and a back-of-house space creatively shoe-horned around a heritage structure, the front-of-house area has been maximised in a manner that is contemporary, chic and intriguing.”

The 2020 project was supported by public funding from Auckland ratepayers via Auckland Council, as well as a number of donors from individuals to trusts whose generosity ensures that Auckland Museum can meet the demands of visitors today and into the future. These awards are a testament to all who contributed to the redevelopment of the Te Ao Mārama South Atrium precinct.

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