Te Kapua Park Playground

The Te Kapua Park Playground successfully and respectfully provides and platform to tell locally specific stories and history and offers significant play value which is comparable to destination playgrounds with far greater delivery budgets. The result offers a huge sense of pride for the local community and a much needed investment in the Tūrangi area. The project brief was to develop a playground in co-design partnership with Ngāti Tūrangitukua that is strongly tied to local themes and context, providing a specifically Tūrangi experience that tells a cultural and historical story of the district. Throughout the duration of the project, Ngāti Tūrangitukua were actively engaged as part of the collaborative design and delivery process. This engagement ensured a high level of cultural design expression and artistic excellence. The project has also been successful in ensuring high levels of consultation and engagement, incorporating custom design play elements alongside off-the-shelf pieces, seeking innovative approaches to procurement and construction, achieving a wide range of sustainable outcomes, and offering play opportunities for children of all abilities. The project has been extremely well received by the local community, our project partners, and fellow professionals alike. It offers a wonderful play experience and a level of cultural learning and understanding, not just for the children but across all generations who visit the space. We strongly believe that the total project approach and outcomes encompass the key values sought from the NZILA awards process and offer a high level of representation for the industry.