a pattern with a special meaning for the Māoris

This beautiful building of great visual impact is located in Otaki, New Zealand. It houses a library, a lecture theatre, and the Te Wānanga o Raukawa student centre, a higher learning institution steeped in Māori protocols and values. The cross motif decorating the façade, designed by Tennent and Brown, has a special meaning as it hints at Māori’s traditional linen weaving models.

A stable and resistant wood species was needed to create this motif with particular technical characteristics. That’s why we used Abodo, which is suitable for making long profiles with a centre distance of up to 3 m of width. Moreover, this wood undergoes hi-tech treatments to ensure stability and high structural performance.