Photo: supplied / Charlotte Curd
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa and Ngāti Te Whiti hapū have revealed the new name and facade of a prominent New Plymouth building.
For the past nine months the Atkinson Building on Devon Street West has been under wrap while it was strengthened and refurbished.
Representatives of Te Atiawa and Ngāti Te Whiti hapū revealed the new name - Ngāmotu House - at a ceremony at the site this week.
It recognises an old hapū which resided in the area before Ngāti Te Whiti of today.
Some of those present at the ceremony. Photo: supplied / Charlotte Curd
It's also the name of the culturally significant Ngā Motu Islands off the coast of New Plymouth and is a name the city is also widely known by.
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa chair Liana Poutu said the exterior façade represented a korowai of high status that wrapped around the building.
"Each pattern on the design has a story integrated within it and Te Atiawa and Ngāti Te Whiti have worked alongside Boon Architects to weave a Te Atiawa cultural narrative throughout the refurbishment," she said.
Poutu thanked Ngāti Te Whiti for their support on the project and said she looked forward to the many other residential and commercial developments already in the pipeline.
"This development is another step towards our long-term strategy of balancing our commercial, cultural, social and environmental aspirations," he said.
"Last week we shared upcoming opportunities with our Te Atiawa uri on our plans for home ownership and affordable rental pathways, and this week we are unveiling the name and design for one of our commercial buildings."
The six-storey 4000m2 Ngāmotu House will be completed by the end of the year and it will become a central hub for Taranaki and Māori businesses of all sizes.
A concept drawing of how the revamped building will look. Photo: supplied
The building wrap will be taken down in June to physically unveil the new façade.
Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa bought the building for $1.9 million in 2020 after taking up the option of buying it as part of its Treaty of Waitangi settlement.
Ngāmotu House is adjacent to New Plymouth's justice quarter and the police station and courthouse which Te Atiawa also own.
Atkinson House, which had a distinctive modernist design, was built in 1968 to house the employees of various government departments.
It was named after Sir Harry Albert Atkinson (1831-1892), a Taranaki farmer who went on to serve as New Zealand's prime minister four times.
Clelands Construction were the lead contractors and Egmont Dixon were the project managers.
