Ka hoki ki te whare huri ai e!

Taking an acutely distinctive Māori world view, we pay reverence to the status of Wai Ariki, to the whenua upon which it stands and to the iwi of Ngāti Whakaue (nō mua, nō muri, nō nāianei), who helped conceptualise and construct, and now occupy, this important Ngāti Whakaue whare as uri whakaheke.

The reviewers pātere might be considered right here.

E kō, kōia e tū mai nei! E kō, kōia e ara ake nei!

Ka ū ki Matānuku! Ka ū ki Matārangi! Ka ū ki ngā maunga whakahī o Kupe! Ko Pūhanga Tohorā ka whai ki Te Ramaroa! Ko Te Ramaroa ka heke ki Whiria! Ko te paiaka o te riri, ko te kawa o Rāhiri! Whiria, ka huri ki Panguru ki Papata, te rākau e tū papata ki Te Tai Hauāuru! Panguru, Papata ko Maunga Taniwha Whakarongorua! Maungataniwha ka heke ki Tokerau! Tokerau ko Rākaumangamanga! Rākaumangamanga ko Manaia! Ko Manaia ko Tūtāmoe! Tūtāmoe ko Maunganui!

Ka hārō i te kāhu, ko Te Kāhu Pōkere, ko Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa! Kei runga, kei te tonga ko Maunga Kiekie e tū noa, ko Maunga Whau te taha whakararo! Ko Te Wai o Huakaiwaka! Nga Wai o Rakataura! Ka rarapa mai ō kanohi ki Te Pūkaki Tapu o Poutūkeka ki Te Puketāpapa ā Hape! Ko Maunga Taketake! Ko Pukeiti! Kei Te Kei o Tainui! Hoki whakamuri mai kei reira a Taramainuku, ko Kaiwhare, rāua ngātahi noho ai! Ka titiro ki Tītīrangi, te taha moana hau raro o te wahapū o Te Mānukanuka o Hoturoa! Ka pupū ki Ōrakei ki te pūwaha o Tāmaki Makaurau ki te whanga i Kawakawa! Ka rere tōtika ki Pirongia ki konei ka whai te tau hiwi ki Ōparau! Ka whiti te moana o Kāwhia ki Te Taharoa! Waikato taniwha rau, he piko, he taniwha!

Ka aroarohaki i o te rae ki Pekerau kai! Te Kureitanga o te ihu o Tama te Kapua! Ka mau te ārohirohi te titiro ki te whenua kura ki Poporohuamea ki Mataoneone! Ka tūtei atu ki te awa kari o Ngātoroirangi: He tai timu, he tai pari e ngaoko ai i te hukahuka! He aha te kai mō roto? He patiki, he tamure, he pāhauariki! He pipi kai oneone, ara rā, ko Papahikahawai! Kia tioro i te tawara o tō waha hei kai e! Rukutia te wai ki ngā taupunga o te waka o Te Arawa! Ko Tūterangiharuru! Ko Te Tokaparore Whakamaua ki te one pungapunga tau atu ai! Urupounamutia mai, he aha te kino i ahau i a Te Arawa! Ka riro rā hei kai atu mā te hatete o Mahuika, Tawhai atu taku rere ki Tapati ki te whare kōrero o Ngāti Whakaue!

E tū whakarehu i te hau hewahewa o Rongomaraeroa e! Nā hea mai koia, te ara ki Whakapoukōrero, ki te puehu muramura i te rua āhuru! Mawhiti atu au ki Te Waiariki koropupū ana i te Rau-o-te-Huia ki Otairoa āku kura tapuwae!

E kō, kōia e tū mai nei! E kō, kōia e ara ake nei!

Pukeroa Oruawhata Belief and RCG, the architects for the Wai Ariki Hots Springs and Spa facility, share an extended affiliation. Since its institution in 1980, the belief has grown its asset base to whole roughly $376.4m in 2023, offering business and charitable alternatives for Ngāti Whakaue descendants and, in the end, the return of ancestral whenua.

RCG was first awarded the fee by shopper Pukeroa Lakefront Holdings (a tourism entity of Pukeroa Oruawhata Belief) in 2012. The transient referred to as for a spa and wellness expertise that was uniquely Ngāti Whakaue and grounded in Ngāti Whakaue therapeutic practices, to be managed by Belgravia Leisure. There are few services of this scale which are developed and owned by indigenous individuals; subsequently, this venture has international significance.

The venture started with a grasp plan for the complete seven-hectare web site, with the briefing, design and documentation levels accomplished by April 2021 when development began. Wai Ariki was formally opened in June 2023.

The 4300m² Wai Ariki facility is located on a 1.6-hectare web site on the japanese finish of the redeveloped Rotorua lakefront and positioned to allow a viewshaft alongside the western boundary to rejoice Te Rotorua-nuia-Kahumatamomoe and the sacred Mokoia past.

Wai Ariki sits prominently on the lakefront, a waka that has landed after an extended journey. The structure emerges from the whenua, giving an elevated view of the lake. Inside and practical areas are contained inside an oblong concrete kind adorned with patterning and vertical components. The advanced construction floats above a extremely lively geothermal mattress, with the ground-floor stage lifted to allow the providers and infrastructure to be accessible.

Above the grounded kind float three niho taniwha tuanui, making a triangular horizontal roof line that faces north–south and reaches skyward within the west–east. These tuanui learn because the tauihu of Te Arawa waka, a whare gable and tectonic plates giving shelter to the areas beneath. The southern tuanui kind floats above the entry lobby, with the 2 northern tuanui sitting above the exterior pool areas and linked by Te Tirotiro Whetū star-gazing pool, which is open to the sky. The tuanui is held up by strong concrete columns, seen from exterior within the open pool space, offering a way of power like giant rākau present in Te Wao nui-a-Tāne Māhuta.

Along with architects John Lenihan and Alex Liang, we strategy Wai Ariki from the tahuaroa within the south. On the entrance to the whare, we’re met by six pou whenua representing important Ngāti Whakaue tūpuna: Te Roro-o-te-Rangi, Tūnohopū, Taeotu, Te Rangi-i-waho, Pūkākī and Hurunga-Te-Rangi. The whakairo have been created by pouako and tauira from Te Puia’s New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute, positioned in Rotorua. The mahi toi course of was facilitated by the shopper, with the architects working carefully with ringa toi to embed these components into the material and total spa expertise journey of Wai Ariki.

On the waharoa beneath the tuanui, there may be a formidable carved pare and whakawae on both aspect of the doorway. As described by one of many Wai Ariki guides, these whakairo specific the pūrākau of the approaching of geothermal power to Aotearoa.

Ngātoroirangi, a strong tohunga, arrived at Aotearoa on Te Arawa waka, captained by Tamatekapua. After an immense ocean voyage from Hawaiki throughout Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, Te Arawa made landfall at Maketū within the Bay of A lot.

Ngātoroirangi quickly got down to discover and to taunaha whenua. After an epic journey inland, he ended up at present-day maunga Tongariro and, upon reaching the summit, he was caught in an icy storm. Fearing for his life, he referred to as to his sisters Kuiwai and Haungaroa in Hawaiki to assist him. They despatched Te Pūpū and Te Hoata, subterranean goddesses of fireside, to save lots of their brother. With this warmth got here geothermal exercise to Te Waiariki, the place geothermal wai and exercise is a big side of the panorama. This pūrākau additionally informs the identify for the whare, Wai Ariki, mainly waters.

As we transfer from exterior into te poho o te whare, we arrive on the lobby, a light-weight and beneficiant area centered across the manaaki of holiday makers, the internet hosting of pōwhiri and whakatau ceremonies, with the café, retail and reception/ticketing space positioned right here.

The niho taniwha tuanui and ceiling are clad in timber; the ceiling sits above concrete columns. Partitions are adorned with softer supplies and tiles, providing additional alternative to visualise the id of Ngāti Whakaue and Te Arawa. 5 turapa woven tukutuku panels, created by Ngāti Whakaue kai raranga, adorn the again wall of the lobby. The general inside materials palette for Wai Ariki is wealthy in context and refers back to the volcanic and geothermal panorama with stone, together with scoria, obsidian and basalt, dressing the numerous surfaces. Wai Ariki embodies the precept of manaakitanga, practised over a whole bunch of years by Ngāti Whakaue and Te Arawa within the internet hosting of manuhiri to the numerous taonga of this distinctive geothermal panorama.

The architects level to many sustainable design options, describing Wai Ariki as a residing biophilic place. Pure geothermal water is used within the swimming pools to warmth the underfloor and indoor air in addition to to warmth the home water provide. The concrete flooring can also be used as an enormous warmth sink to mood the water earlier than it enters the swimming pools.

In passing the reception, we pause at a big toka wai function: a second to karakia earlier than we undertake our spa journey. It’s a level of departure for the 2 spa experiences: Te Wai Whakaora, referencing Ngātoroirangi’s journey to Tongariro, and the unique Te Āhuru Mōwai. The spa journeys unfold in a nonlinear spatial method, very similar to the takarangi sample present in whakairo, the place a double spiral intersects and meets at a central level. Manuhiri are taken on an immersive and multi-sensory restorative journey by means of the important thing indoor areas and experiences: Te Iringa cooling waterfall, Te Ahi Tupua saunas, Te Papatūānuku thermal mud expertise and Te Kohu Wai Ariki steam room. The primary Te Wai Whakaoho pool space for geothermal bathing and an ice-cold plunge expertise are coated by the floating tuanui and embody non-public spa swimming pools within the east, providing views to the lake.

The spa expertise is infused with the scents and aromas of native ngāhere and whenua, and contains rongoā and different well-being therapies. Waiata might be heard, and mahi toi and design, and native stone are embedded within the ending of the inside and exterior areas. Te Āhuru Mōwai is a extra non-public expertise, together with distinctive therapies, a lounge for leisure and an out of doors pool space. The important thing intersection of the 2 spiralling spa experiences is Te Tirotiro Whetū Stargaze Pool, which is open to the sky and surrounded by pou that act as a storytelling and navigational system to key factors inside the panorama.

Koia nei te wero mā tātou katoa te hunga tātai tātaki whakahoahoa, he tūhono, he takahi i a tātou kaupapa nunui ki ngā kitenga hou, ki ngā kitenga hei haere anga whakamua i a tātou mahi Māori ataahua nei. Ko te whakaaturanga nui kia kitea mai ā māua nei tuhituhi, te āhua o te whakatakoto kōrero, te tūmomo matakite e riro ai mā te tūmomo reo wetewete hei whakatupu, whakatinana i tēnei kaupapa o tēnei whare a Te Wai Ariki e whakaritea nei e nga kaiwhakahoahoa Māori, tauiwi hoki. He kāinga kōrero nui te ao mātauranga tawhito, te ao mātauranga hou, he puna hohouhanga a Rua, hou o te whakaaro. Ko te hinengaro kakama kei te kite, kei te whakakākahu i tēnei kaupapa kia ora ai ngā tūmomo mātauranga, whāngai i ngā kokonga o te hinengaro o ō tātou hāpori kaiwhakahoahoha Māori, tauira whakahoahoa rangahau hoki. Ka tika tonu kia tupu mai ai tēnei pātaka kōrero. Nō reira, me pēwhea ra te whakatupu, te tūāpapa kia koke haere anga whakamua ai?

Wai Ariki has given us the chance to traverse, to attach and to hunt new understandings of kaupapa Māori from this iwi-led venture. Now we have supplied insights from this dialogue for our architectural group, Māori and tauiwi to think about in future initiatives and conversations with iwi Māori.

Wai Ariki sits on the panorama as a resilient toka, that references previous, current and future aspirations of Ngāti Whakaue, Te Arawa. It’s an thrilling image of Māori structure and of indigenous excellence. The onus is on all of us, and our architectural group, to deepen our understanding of te ao Māori, te reo Māori me ōna tikanga, however for what function? It’s that we could mirror and think about the traditional data of iwi Māori, equivalent to Ngāti Whakaue; inside that consideration lies an endless potential to develop and produce to the world our distinctive cloth of Māori data and Māori structure.

Nō reira ka tika ka huri ki ngā kōrero nō neherā nō te aitanga a Tamatekapua hei whakaeke, hei whakanuia tēnei kaukau i roto i te tumanako:

I au ai kia whakatairangatia te kauae o taku tupuna!
Tamatekapua e tū nei!
Titiro ki ana uri e tau nei!
Ko mātou aha ha ha!
Ko Uenuku aha ha ha!
Te korapanga o te wā o Pūkaki!
I waiho ki a Te Taupua!
Ana hī! Ana ha!

 ^Reference:

^{1. Saul Roberts’ dissertation analysis, undergraduate PhD AUT 2023.}