Concept for the Northcote Aquatic and Recreation Centre (above) and Warren and Mahoney’s recent hire, Whare Timu (below).
Integrating Indigenous processes in design Daryl Maguire shares his views about the importance of leading with an inclusive design process
I
t’s no secret New Zealand is admired across the globe as a leading example of a bicultural society. Its rich Maori culture, visually depicted across key national icons and brought to a hair-raising crescendo when its world-famous rugby team, the All Blacks, proudly stare down even the most formidable opposing teams. New Zealand’s cultural integration has become an admirable example to aspire to. Both on the sporting field, and visually displayed at its impressive arenas and facilities that showcase athletic prowess. As we increasingly look to celebrate and integrate the practices and richness of our indigenous and First Nations cultures into our places of play, Warren and Mahoney’s recent hire, Whare Timu - a highly qualified architect, who is also a dedicated expert in indigenous design and bestpractice cultural integration attaches specific importance 58 Australasian Leisure Management Issue 144
to inclusive design processes. We are using our experience in New Zealand to build a blueprint to connect sport and recreation projects back to the original guardians of the lands in all countries in which we operates. With projects like the Northcote Aquatic Recreation Centre (NARC) in progress in Melbourne, we are leaning heavily upon Kiwi learnings and successes to deliver a facility that centres on celebrating indigenous culture and valuable sustainable practices. Not just satisfied with its impressive track record of integration with local iwi (regional tribes) in New Zealand, we bolstered our existing cultural code of conduct with the hiring of Timu. Timu’s iwi (Maori social units) is Tuwharetoa and he comes from Waihaha on the Western Bay of the Lake Taupo in the central North Island region of New Zealand. Having practiced architecture for the past 15 years, he is excited to join the Warren and Mahoney family to help lead and build on its cultural framework for the practice. His background working with the government and iwi, from housing right through to government workplace strategy and commercial fit outs, has included working with local iwi across the country to build on their aspirations around papakainga
