Success at the 2023 Best Awards

Paepae Ātea on the Taupō lakefront, and Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa on the shores of Lake Rotorua were recognised for design excellence.

The Boffa Miskell design team and Ngāti Tūwharetoa artists Kingi Pitiroi and Delani Brown took a Bronze Award in the Spatial Design | Private, Public and Institutional Spaces category for Paepae Ātea, Lakefront Taupō.

Part of the wider Taupo Town Centre Transformation, Paepae Ātea is a large open with sculptural installations at the centre of Lake Terrace. Traditionally carved pou, mauri stones and bespoke paving and lighting elements draw awareness to the historic importance of Taupō and the strong values and associations held by Ngāti Tūwharetoa iwi to the land (whenua), local mountains (maunga), roto (Lake Taupō) and awa (Waikatō River) and tributaries. Heritage and culture are embedded within the new design, emphasising the connections that the local people (tangata) have to the place (whenua).

Paepae Ātea responds to the lakefront providing a richness of naturally- and culturally-referenced design detailing that makes the experience of a stylish, vibrant urban open space absolutely distinctive to Taupō and its people. Paepae Ātea is a focal point of the consistent design narrative that has been incorporated throughout the broader Taupo Town Centre Transformation through a collaborative and iterative design process. 

The Supreme Purple Pin in the Spatial Design | Private, Public and Institutional Spaces category went to Wai Ariki, a new thermal spa on the Rotorua lakefront. Boffa Miskell landscape architects were part of the project team.

The multi-award-winning building is bold and designed to be a feature in the landscape, while the landscape response is authentic in terms of materials, planting, and layout, both internally, and externally. The planting complements the architecture of the building, but it also settles the dynamic building into the natural landscape surroundings to ensure it belongs within the context of the Rotorua lakefront.

The landscape response creates a restful and relaxing environment based on six cultural values of design. The landscape provides a strong structure for the building, anchoring it into the local vernacular and context of Lake Rotorua.

Inside the building, floor-to-ceiling glass windows within the centre provide space for a pocket of Rotorua Forest. Native ferns are planted throughout, and the Herbal Pool space features a richly planted green wall of fragrant herbs, whilst the Mud Experience rooms have views of native plant and shrub species. These pockets of green space breathe life into the built form and engender an atmosphere of tranquillity and relaxation.