The Living Building

The Living Pā is home to the marae wharekai and the new building which aspires to Living Building™ certification.

The Living Pā is very different from typical institutional buildings. Opening on 6 December 2024, it is one of the world’s most environmentally responsible buildings.

On the ground floor is the wharekai for the marae complex. An open engagement space is located at the northern end. The second floor comprises student study areas, small-group teaching and seminar spaces and a larger flat-floor teaching space, and office for Āwhina, Ngā Tauira and the marae team. The third-floor houses Te Kawa a Māui—School of Māori Studies, the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Māori and the University’s Sustainability Office.

Wharekai—dining room

The wharekai is the heart of any marae, and the provision of manaaki is an important cultural practice. From the marae’s establishment, lunches have been prepared for students and staff at a reduced price to ensure that students were sustained but also to encourage them to be part of the everyday life of the marae.

It is not typical for a marae kitchen to offer a menu with a range of options, rather emphasis is placed on the spiritual and social nourishment dimensions of sharing food, completing a ritual encounter, and experiencing manaakitanga.

Aspiring Living Building™

The Living Pā aspires to meet Living Building™ certification, part of the Living Building Challenge®, from the International Living Futures Institute℠. The  programme is intended to transform how we think about our built environment. It asks us to reset standards, and to take more responsibility for the health of the environment and the people to ensure a better future.

The Living Building™ has been designed and built to be self-sufficient to its site. It can generate all its own electricity, collect all required water, and manage all its own wastewater. The work to build the project has not produced negative consequences for others; rather, beyond its own boundary, the project has demonstrably given back to the local ecology and community.

The goal of the building is ultimately to serves a moral objective—to do the right thing for the people, the whenua, and for the future.

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