Location: Martinborough, Wellington, New Zealand.

Architect: Warren and Mahoney Architects + Wraight and Associates (Landscape Designers).

The Martinborough Town Hall has undergone a restoration and extension to become a multi-purpose community hub that unites various groups and activities under one roof. The design response upgrades the 106-year-old building by seismically strengthening it in a sympathetic and unobtrusive manner while retaining its heritage qualities. The new extension relates to the heritage building by expression of scale, juxtaposing the lightweight timber and steel, transparent and open structure against the robust form of the Town Hall. The design is conceived as a simple ‘lean-to’ or ‘veranda’ structure, inspired by the ‘covered yard’, a consistent and memorable shed-like form reflected in Wairarapa’s rural landscape. The new facility is home to a library, café, back-of-house support spaces, visitor centre and Plunket – a not-for-profit national health service providing support services for the development, health and wellbeing of children and their families under the age of five. The community hub feels familiar and inviting with a domestic friendliness that provides the backdrop to the adjacent park and fosters stronger connections to Martinborough Square. The project was a true community collaboration between the South Wairarapa District Council and the Waihinga Charitable Trust, with community members offering grants and donations, fundraising $2.3 million of the $5.33 million total spend to complete this transformational project.

Photo credit: Andy Spain.