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Reindigenising our Te Atiawa landscape - Ngāmotu House
The newly redeveloped Ngāmotu House sits proudly in New Plymouth’s CBD and is a visual expression of our commitment to Te Atiawa whakapapa, to each other and the past.
The recently refurbished six-storey building was opened with Ngā Whakaritenga (ceremonial formalities) in late February and attended by hundreds of Te Atiawa whānau and guests.
Liana Poutu, Chair of Te Kotahitanga o Te Atiawa, was thrilled to see so many whānau enjoy their building and seeing the aspirations of its people come to fruition.
“This is more than a building for us, it is a celebration of our Te Atiawatanga,” says Liana. Boon Architects worked alongside Te Atiawa and Ngāti Te Whiti to weave a Te Atiawa cultural narrative throughout the refurbishment.
Ngāmotu House is another step in the longterm strategy for Te Kotahitanga to balance its commercial, cultural, social and environmental aspirations.
“As well as this commercial investment, we have increased our home ownership and affordable rental pathways for whānau. In the last six months alone we have supported, in most cases with Ka Uruora, 10 whānau into their own homes.”
Cultural Narrative - Ngāmotu House
The external façade honours our Te Atiawa ancestor Rongoueroa, the mother of Awanuiārangi.
Rongoueroa is represented as a parawai - a high status cloak made of flax fibre. This parawai wraps around the building and is a symbol of protection, integrity and collectivism. Its design also mirrors Taranaki Maunga as a tupuna for our people. The tāniko (weaving) pattern is in honour of our Te Atiawa and Taranaki weavers who were held in high regard for their craft. The niho patterns not only represent a tooth, but the communities in and around New Plymouth.
The colours, both inside and out, include blue to signify the moana (sea) and the traditional ‘Te Atiawa blue’. The red and orange represents the kōkōwai (red ochre) found on Taranaki Maunga and symbolises the vitality of the people of Te Atiawa, and black is a symbol for Papatūānuku (Earth mother). The windows on each floor are tinted in different shades to reflect the horizontal layers of the mountain – from the green of the bush on the bottom to the white of the snow and blue of the sky higher up.
The name Ngāmotu House was gifted in recognition of a number of hapū collectively known as Ngā hapū o Ngāmotu. It is also the name of the culturally significant Ngā Motu Islands, and is a name now more widely used for New Plymouth.
