Pukeahu National War Memorial Park

GEORGE MALCOLM AWARD

Pukeahu is an exercise in sophisticated design and spatial planning, executed with a confidence and attention to detail befitting of its status as our National War Memorial Park. The design team expertly weaved together multiple cultural and historic narratives whilst navigating a myriad of complicated technical challenges to realise both a park as a place of remembrance and a piece of urban infrastructure that offers much to its surrounding city.

Masterfully manipulating the topography with subtle plays in geometry to create a series of connected ‘rooms’, the park culminates in a large square in front of the national war memorial that commands a sense of real gravitas. This is place making on a grand scale, and yet a feeling of intimacy is retained, allowing the park to be enjoyed for a range of activities and everyday use that keep it vital and engaging.

Employing a restrained palette of materials and beautifully executed finishes, the park exudes a strength and calmness that reflects a clarity of vision.

The design elements embedded into the DNA of the park will withstand the tests of time and taste, as future memorials are developed within its framework and
the city matures and grows around it. Pukeahu exemplifies the art and practice of landscape architecture at the very highest level. Those involved in its creation can be extremely proud of their work.