Kahu Matarau and Pikihuia i te ao, i te pō, Justice and Emergency Services Precinct, Ōtautahi Christchurch, 2017
Kahu Matarau photo: Dennis Radermacher
Kahu Matarau draws on kākahu (traditional feather cloak), the plumage of the kākāpō, an endangered native, nocturnal, flightless parrot, and the braided awa (rivers) of Canterbury. Made of more than 1400 individual anodised aluminium panels, the 36-metre long eight metre high façade wraps around the Lichfield St carpark façade at street level. The choice of the kakapo feather gives the building some prestige from a Māori perspective. The law is very important for how society works and how Māori interact with each other. The west facing Pikihuia i te ao, i te pō references the precious and extinct huia. The stylised huia feather motif alludes to an alliance between Ngāi Tahu and the crown made in 1936. Produced as frit applied to the window bays on the Durham Street frontage for privacy and to filter light and heat from the courtrooms.
Read more about the project and the precinct development: Warren and Mahoney, Architecture Now, Justice NZ
