Ōkahukura - Masonic Park, Tauranga

Ōkahukura - Masonic Park, the first project delivered as part of Tauranga’s Te Manawataki o Te Papa civic precinct, was recently completed and opened. This project transforms a former under utilised space and carpark into a key part a new new east-west, city to sea transect and axis that connects the new cultural precinct to the Tauranga Moana Waterfront.

Masonic Park establishes a new destination that supports informal recreation, new forms of occupation and catalyses the activation of adjacent sites including the Tauranga Art Gallery.

The space is organised by a series of ‘gardens’, ‘lawns’ and ‘plaza’s’ that provide for different experiences and occupation opportunities. These incorporating low impact design (bio-retention tree pits) that support a new urban ecology for the civic heart precinct. A series of springs reveal the former flow of water between the site and the harbour.

Client: Tauranga City Council (TCC) + Willis Bond Collaborators:  BECA (Civil/Lighting)