A student-led exhibition showing future design ideas for Porirua’s city centre, Te Manawa, is open at Kai Tahi until Sunday, June 21.
The exhibition features work by students from Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Architecture, developed alongside Porirua City Council representatives and mana whenua Ngāti Toa Rangatira.
The designs explore how the wider city centre could change over coming decades, with a focus on resilience, culture, housing, ecology and better public space.
Ideas include more connected streets and laneways, safer pedestrian areas, daylighted streams, new parks, improved stormwater management, more biodiversity and stronger links to the harbour.
The project also looks at a “super-block” approach, where through-traffic is focused on main surrounding roads and smaller inner streets become more welcoming for walking, cycling and gathering.
Ngāti Toa Rangatira gifted the name Te Manawa to Porirua’s city centre in March 2019. The name means “a central place where many people gather, and their hearts beat as one.”
Design principles include mixed-use housing near transport hubs, public open spaces in earthquake “no-build zones,” food gardens, cultural planting, harbour-edge restoration, a destination skatepark and playground, and a covered pedestrian network that could also act as a cultural trail.
The exhibition opened on Thursday, June 11. Students will be at Kai Tahi from 1pm to 3pm on Saturday, June 20, and Sunday, June 21, to talk with residents about the designs.
Visitors are encouraged to give feedback at the exhibition. People wanting more information or to provide further feedback can email Carles Almoyna at [email protected].
