Rebuild of historic Opōtiki wharenui uses Māori construction methods

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.

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".

"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."

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.

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

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.