Te Rimutahi

Nomination statement

Te Rimutahi transforms a former industrial site in Ponsonby, Auckland into a hybrid civic landscape where adaptive reuse, ecological infrastructure and community life are seamlessly integrated. Reimagining a former drive-through bottle store as part plaza, part park and part cultural platform, the project demonstrates how underutilised urban sites can become catalysts for social connection, environmental performance and neighbourhood identity. Emerging from a community-led advocacy initiative, the project was shaped through extensive public engagement and close collaboration with Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, Ngāti Te Ata Waiohua and artist Graham Tipene. This process moved beyond traditional consultation toward genuine co-authorship, embedding cultural narratives, memory and mātauranga Māori within the structure and experience of the landscape. Te Rimutahi references the lone rimu tree once located along this significant ridgeline, grounding the project in whenua, movement and occupation. At its core, the project is organised through a sequence of interconnected civic ‘rooms’ that mediate between street edge, canopy and planted landscape. Adaptive reuse is central to the project’s identity and sustainability performance, with existing structures transformed into flexible civic infrastructure supporting markets, performances, recreation and everyday occupation. A lush and immersive planting strategy draws from local ecology and coastal ridgeline conditions, combining indigenous and exotic species to create a resilient urban ecology. Environmental performance is embedded throughout through water harvesting, renewable energy generation, adaptive reuse and integrated green infrastructure. Despite its modest footprint, Te Rimutahi has become a highly active neighbourhood destination and establishes a new model for resilient, community-led urban public space in Auckland.