Victoria University now ‘with a marae at its heart’ after dawn ceremony

Friday, 6 December 2024

When the window panels are fully open, Wellington’s wind floods into Victoria University’s Living Pā, given the name Ngā Mokopuna. Streams of sunlight are felt and visible all day.

With plant life creeping up the walls of the building, everything here is carefully designed to reconnect its inhabitants with nature.

Te Herenga Waka‒Victoria University of Wellington reawakened its marae, including blessing its new building the Nga Mokopuna: The Living Pā on Kelburn Parade with a dawn ceremony on Friday.

About 1000 people gathered before dawn, parents with sleeping kids and pillows in tow, filling the pavement facing the looming new structure, watching on as mana whenua blessed each of the three floors. The karakia and beating sound of poi spilled out from the open windows into the still, quiet morning, tūī singing out in response as the sky began to lighten.

Te Tumu Herenga Waka, the whare whakairo (carved house), behind Ngā Mokopuna was reawakened for the first time since preparation for the $61 million project began in 2021 and construction in 2022.

But to professor Rawinia Higgins, deputy Vice-Chancellor, Māori, the completion of the marae had been at least 38 years in the making – to the day.

Te Tumu Herenga Waka originally opened on December 6, 1986, but there had been a battle since to have a purpose-designed dining room, part of the initial proposal and fundamental to the manaakitanga (hospitality) of the marae.

Makeshift arrangements were made over the decades but by 2021 the buildings were “way over life”.

“It didn't give that sense that we were a university with a marae at its heart,” Higgins said.

Ngā Mokopuna includes a commercial kitchen and will be home to Te Kawa a Māui – The School of Māori Studies, Māori student groups, Māori student support Āwhina team, marae staff and Mauri Ora students, health and counselling, with a doctor on-site.

It has undertaken the Living Building Challenge – a year-long performance-based standard aiming for buildings to be regenerative and restore nature, beyond just doing ‘less harm’.

If successful, it will be one of less than 30 certified buildings worldwide.

The framework presented an opportunity to bridge te ao Māori and sustainability, Higgins said, resonating with Māori values, prioritising the environment’s needs.

Constructed from engineered timber, the building was a carbon store, sequestering more carbon than it produced in its lifetime.

Hours of research went into “basically find the whakapapa of every piece of material that's inside that building” to meet its requirements to have 90% of the building compliant without using 22 worst-in-class toxic chemicals pervasive in materials.

It also aligned with the wharenui which told a narrative of “oodles and oodles of research on genealogy that connects us to the environment”, she said.

Sustainability director Andrew Wilks said the Living Building Challenge framework was “a game-changing kind of criteria”.

He believed a lot of sustainability challenges came from people becoming disconnected from nature.

“We are entirely dependent on nature for our survival, but we've totally taken it for granted,” Wilks said.

Being entirely self-sufficient and generating its own energy through solar panels was “really challenging”. It meant fundamentally the building had to be designed to be very low energy.

Having its occupants largely control air quality and regulate the temperature by keeping an eye on monitors placed around the building and manually opening windows, was an example of providing people an opportunity to “reform that bond with nature”.

He hoped the impacts would go beyond the building and its ethos would be woven into students’ university experience and linked to their learning across different disciplines. Already, it reflected a younger generation’s growing appetite for environmentally-conscious practices.

“It's kind of our stake in the ground, saying we think this is what our future could look like and so then students get the chance to experience that, take that with them for the rest of their lives and hopefully be the change makers we want them to be.”

Co-project manager Lincoln North highlighted the intricate details that made the building live up to its name.

David Hakaraia’s works fill the space, including lamp shades above the central stairway, a 3D print made from recycled materials.

The toilets used six times less water than an average toilet by flushing using suctions, like on a plane.

It supplied 100% of its water, captured by rain, and by recycling used water with the plants on the side of the building, part of the filtration system. Waste and storm water were also treated on-site.

In the event of an emergency, the building could house up to 200 people for seven days, North said.

Ninety-five per cent of the construction waste, more than 1120 tonnes, was diverted from landfill.

In many ways, North believed it would be a legacy for Aotearoa.

The newly established waste-streams could be used into the future and the more demand for sustainable and clean materials became normalised, the more it would become what was available on the market, he said.

“This is what you can do if you’re willing to push the envelope and now you won’t have to push on with as many of those things.”

Graduations hosted once again at the marae next week would put a lot of pressure on the new building but it was important to be conscious of how to manaaki (host) people, while being mindful of the impact it had on the environment, Higgins said.

It was a busy marae before closure and she expected to see it “ramping up some more”.

“This gives an opportunity for that engagement with the public, to be able to host – do things like manaaki, but also help support and educate new students … we want them to be confident and proud.”

The building will be open to the public from December 9 till 11 between 2pm and 5pm for informal, self-guided, walk-in visits.