Te Ara Tukutuku

As one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most ambitious landscape regeneration projects, Te Ara Tukutuku will deliver one of the largest new open spaces in Auckland's city center in a century.

Placing people and mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge and wisdom systems) at the core of its design process, Te Ara Tukutuku is a 10-hectare public park and development precinct at the northern end of Wynyard Point in Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland, New Zealand), with sweeping views across Te Waitematā (Auckland Harbour) and the city.

Envisioned as a Mana Whenua-led (Indigenous-led) waterfront destination, Te Ara Tukutuku will progressively transform over the next decade, redefining what a public open space can be.

Once rich with marine life, Wynyard Point was industrialized over many decades for shipping, chemical storage, and building materials. This activity degraded the mauri (life force and ecological vitality) of the land and harbor. Te Ara Tukutuku responds by healing the contaminated, reclaimed headland, restoring the relationship between whenua (land) and moana (sea) toward mauri ora, a state of wellbeing. This approach prioritizes restoration first, bringing tāngata (people) back to the site only as the land and water are progressively made ready to hold them.

Informed by mātauranga Māori and tikanga (customary practices and protocols), the design has been shaped through listening, dialogue, and iteration, grounded in the understanding that for one part of the system to thrive, all must.

The name Te Ara Tukutuku was gifted by Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei and supported by Mana Whenua Partners, representing the iwi (tribes) and hapū (sub-tribes) connected to this stretch of coast. It refers to the traditional waka (canoe) ramps that once lined the original shoreline, the passages through which Māori reached Te Waitematā and, beyond it, Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa (the Pacific Ocean). The name speaks to the binding together of land and sea, and to the relationship between Papatūānuku (Earth Mother) and Tangaroa (the Atua, or guardian, of the sea), symbolically re-establishing a harbor headland that recalls waterfront cultural sites lost through colonization and successive reclamation.

Te Ara Tukutuku is a product of deep collaboration. Conceived through a partnership bringing together representatives of 13 local iwi, the client, and the design consortium, the project has embedded Mana Whenua landscape and cultural values. SCAPE is part of Toi Waihanga, a design collective comprising LandLAB, Mott MacDonald, BECA, Stellar Projects, Warren and Mahoney, and Fresh Concept, working in co-design with Mana Whenua and the Auckland Urban Development Office.

Co-design at every scale

“Ēhara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini.”

“My strength is not mine alone, but that of many.” 

Whakataukī (Māori proverb)
Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Beneath the reclaimed headland lies a shoreline lost to history; new landform reinterprets the scale and rhythm of the original headlands, restoring the memory of place through a coastline that invites genuine, sensory encounter with the water.
In place of conventional zones, the hoe (paddle) becomes the organizing cultural wayfinding, guiding visitors through the site the way ancestors once read the land and sea.
Reef modules and coves, developed with Mana Whenua and ecology specialists, are designed to belong beneath the waterline, mimicking natural coastal forms so marine life can once again thrive.
Seed sourcing, nursery care, and ecological monitoring keep the community rooted in community from the outset, tested against and accountable to the people it serves long after the plans are drawn.
Education is central to the project. Tamariki and rangatahi (children and young people) are encouraged as future kaitiaki (guardians) of the space, guided by the wisdom of their pakeke (elders). Learn more about Learning Landscapes.

The transformation is guided by four kaupapa (principles). It begins with people, growing our communities through Te Wakatupu i Ō Tātou Hapori, then opens outward into the public realm with Ā Tātou Whakarite mō ngā Wāhi Tū Wātea, enhancing the journey through open space. At the shoreline, Te Wheako i Te Taha Moana celebrates life at the water's edge. Underpinning each step is Te Manaakitanga, an enduring practice of hosting and welcome. Learn more about about Parks that Welcome.

The design reimagines the original waterfront through a topography and coastal edge drawn from the harbor's historic headlands and bays.

The park will comprise of a coastal ngahere (native forest), outdoor classrooms and pavilions, a whare waka (canoe house) and waka ramp for launching traditional canoes, floating and coastal swimming pools, an on-site nursery, and an integrated education curriculum.

Regenerative practice sits at the heart of the mahi (work), guided by three linked acts: healing the site to restore existing and new ecological systems, forming new spaces and experiences through topography and landscape programming, and cultivating new environmental and social ecologies over time. Mauri tū, mauri ora captures this holistic approach, the health of whenua, moana, wai (water), and tāngata bound together, each depending on the others to heal and regenerate as one system.

Te Ara Tukutuku carries forward Te Hā Noa, the freedom to experience one's surroundings, to breathe the essence of life itself, to notice the sights and sounds along the way. It is a landscape built to sustain the ecological and cultural life of the harbor for generations to come.

Client

Eke Panuku

Collaborators

LandLAB

Warren and Mahoney

Mott MacDonald (supported by DONE)

Stellar Projects

BECA

Fresh Concept

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Client

Collaborators

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