Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Rebuild of historic Opōtiki wharenui uses Māori construction methods

Megan Wilson
By Megan Wilson
Multimedia Journalist·Bay of Plenty Times·
5 Aug, 2022 07:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

A pop-up wharenui was built in January for the purpose of measuring the site and carvings. Photo / Supplied

A pop-up wharenui was built in January for the purpose of measuring the site and carvings. Photo / Supplied

A $1.2 million wharenui destroyed by an earthquake nearly 100 years ago is being rebuilt using traditional Māori construction methods.

The "beautifully carved" Tānewhirinaki wharenui near Opōtiki has received funding from Toka Tū Ake Earthquake Commission to be rebuilt and enhance its seismic resilience after it was destroyed in the Napier earthquake in 1931.

Architect and researcher Professor Anthony Hoete said he and his team from the University of Auckland would rebuild it using a "lashing" technology, used by Māori when they first arrived in Aotearoa.

The team were working closely with Ngāti lra o Waioweka, who built the original wharenui. The most important carvings representing the iwi's ancestors were saved from the wreckage and stored in a shed at the marae for nine decades.

"This is not just any old house - this is a monster whare beautifully carved and sadly no longer standing," Hoete said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Architect and researcher Professor Anthony Hoete. Photo / Supplied
Architect and researcher Professor Anthony Hoete. Photo / Supplied

Before Europeans arrived in Aotearoa, Māori built their whare the same way they built waka, Hoete said.

"[Māori] would have turned them upside down, taken shelter beneath them, and eventually that would have informed the way we build our first whare."

This involved technology of "lashing and tying as a construction technique".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"When the Europeans arrived with their screws, bolts and drills, that technology would have been lost because it would have been far easier to nail something together.

"That's when the technology started to disappear."

Discover more

'Hazard': Greerton pedestrian crossing in spotlight after deaths in Bethlehem

28 Jul 09:00 PM
New Zealand

'A tragedy waiting to happen': Safety concerns raised about Bethlehem crossing

26 Jul 05:29 PM
New Zealand

Highway tragedy: Husband, wife killed - victim would do 'anything for anyone'

25 Jul 10:53 PM

Hoete explained lashing as putting the construction element into tension.

"It's a bit like a bow and arrow. [When] you pull on the string of a bow, the wooden part bends ... When you put the tension lines across the top of the whare ... The house is being pulled into the ground through tensioning ropes.

"What we're hoping with this post-tensioning is that it doesn't lead to buildings collapsing after a seismic hit - you can go and recalibrate the building and adjust the seismic strength or resistance.

"The structure is no longer static - the structure is dynamic. That is the beauty of this particular type of Māori construction technique."

Hoete said the project would transform the local community by teaching local students about seismic resilience and empowering rangatahi to go to university. The project would also aim to employ local builders.

Asked why it had taken so long to rebuild the wharenui, Hoete said it came down to money. His team had received "considerable" funding for the project but was still about $500,000 short for the $1.2m project.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The next step would be building a "full-scale prototype" for testing. The outputs of this would be used in the final design and construction of the wharenui.

The carvings in the pop-up wharenui are the original ones from the Tānewhirinaki wharenui. Photo / Supplied
The carvings in the pop-up wharenui are the original ones from the Tānewhirinaki wharenui. Photo / Supplied

Toka Tū Ake Earthquake Commission research manager Dr Natalie Balfour said the "exciting" project would keep Māori knowledge in the community and ensure a modern wharenui could withstand the elements.

Balfour said it wanted to ensure buildings were resilient to natural hazards such as earthquakes.

"Quite often these buildings are used as a place where the community gathers and supports each other during times that are difficult such as after an event.

"Making sure that they perform and they remain there to support these communities through those times is really important."

Balfour said the project was a great way to learn about other construction methods which were not necessarily part of modern building resilience.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Bay of Plenty Times

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

'The man I once trusted violently raped me': Man jailed for attacking ex-wife next to sleeping child

07 Jul 08:00 AM

The man apologised to his victim, but pleaded not guilty.

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

'Do it now, run him over'. Teen who ran over mother's partner twice can finally be named

07 Jul 07:00 AM
Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

Hunter who feeds the hungry named Volunteer of the Year

07 Jul 06:56 AM
Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

Downhill mountain bikers impress on world stage

07 Jul 06:38 AM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP