International recognition for Northland design

Te Mirumiru is in the running for an international green building award. PHOTO/SIMON DEVITT

A Northland building designed to minimise energy use while telling the stories of its iwi is in the running for an international green building award.

Te Mirumiru, a childcare centre in Kawakawa owned by Ngati Hine Health Trust, is one of seven finalists chosen from 57 projects in the Asia Pacific region.

The earth-bank building on Rayner St, completed in 2012 at a cost of $2.2 million, was nominated in the Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance category of the World Green Building Council awards. It is the only New Zealand building among the Singapore-dominated finalists.

Te Mirumiru was designed by Phil Smith of Casa Architects to reflect the culture and values of Ngati Hine. He wanted to create a genuinely Maori building rather than a western building overlaid with Maori carvings.

Ngati Hine Health Trust executive chair Gwen Tepania-Palmer said the nomination was an unexpected honour which deserved to be celebrated and shared. Children, whanau and the wider community were proud of Te Mirumiru, which she said symbolised their hopes and aspirations for future generations.

World Green Building Council chief executive Jane Henley said the building didn't just accommodate children, it also taught them about their culture, customs and the environment.

Its passive environmental design included north-facing glazing to maximise solar gain in winter and a super-insulated earth roof. Exposed concrete and natural ventilation allowed passive cooling in summer, with minimal heating in winter from an underfloor solar hot water system. All spaces were naturally lit and rainwater captured on site was used to irrigate the green roof.

Ms Henley said Te Mirumiru was 70 per cent more energy efficient than similar code-compliant buildings. It was one of only three buildings in New Zealand to achieve a 6 Green Star rating and was the only Green Star-rated early childhood centre in Australasia.

Its symbolism includes the earth bank's womb-like shape with the building formed inside, like a child of Papatuanuku (the Earth Mother), and the cut in the north facade which is its only entrance.

The cut represents the caesarean birth through which Ngati Hine trace their lineage - about 600 years ago ancestor Hine a Maru was the first recorded Maori woman to deliver a child by caesarean section and survive.

The earth mounded up over the building refers to Ngati Hine-pukerau (Ngati Hine of a hundred hills) while the interior represents the nearby Waiomio caves and Ruapekapeka pa where Kawiti used underground shelters in the final battle of the Northern Wars.