Eva Jenkin

This museum project creates an architecture which can facilitate the repatriation of flora and fauna species to their indigenous habitat of the Waitākere Ranges, west of Auckland City. The museum provides the visitor with an authentic educational experience about where these native species originated, and an immersion into the very environment they were first born out of.

This is articulated through the design of three individual museum buildings, with an emphasis on culturally appropriate design methods, particularly the exhibition and museum curation of taonga. These buildings are dotted among the native bush connected by a meandering boardwalk, each providing the visitor with a specific connection to the environment surrounding.

Building 'Below the Surface' is submerged partly underground, allowing the visitor to learn of root systems, invertebrates, to podzolic soil layers. While in contrast, Building 'Above the Surface' sits above the forest canopy and allows the visitor to learn of the relationship between tree species, as well as indigenous mammals, birds and reptiles.