Working within the era-spanning architecture of the Auckland War Memorial Museum, Te Ao Mārama elevates the cultural dignity of the manuhiri (visitor) experience. A bicultural welcome embeds mana whenua narratives and tikanga in the architecture and artwork. The vision was for a dramatic transformation of the southern entry which welcomes 75% of the museum’s visitors.

Te Ao Mārama establishes an international precedent for bicultural approaches to public museum design. Architecture, artwork, interior design and exhibition content combine to reflect mana whenua and Pacific cultural narratives. Pivotal in the design was the release of the suspended tanoa bowl which is now fully resplendent within the atrium (previously partially covered by the temporary exhibition space). New timber-lined boulevards connect Te Ao Mārama to He Taonga Māori (the Māori Court) guiding visitors and revealing new galleries.

Materials were assessed for their robustness and ability to patina over the years. Selections such as bronze joinery, terrazzo flooring, Tawa and Tasmanian Blackwood veneers pay homage to the Museum’s original materials as well as more recent additions like the Fijian Kauri clad tanoa bowl dating from 2006. 

The atrium serves multiple functions – formal and informal welcome, education, and other assorted events and community activities. Devices to enable concurrent activities and events, such as screening elements, lighting and acoustic treatments are elevated into iconic architectural motifs. The glowing underside of the tanoa bowl references pacific navigation and radial geometries, with the design centering manuhiri within Te Ao Mārama, orientating them to their place in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa, and the South Pacific.