Education News – Culturally rich ceremony marks start of new build at Ara | Te Pūkenga Timaru

Karanga and karakia led by Ngāti Huirapa, accompanied by a sod-turning ceremony, has marked the start of a significant new build on the Ara | Te Pūkenga Timaru campus.

“Our ceremony is a marriage, if you like, between Māori and Pakeha culture,” said Te Marino Lenihan Ara | Te Pūkenga Director of Treaty Partnerships. “Through karanga and karakia we instil mauri into a special kohatu (stone) that will then form part of the building’s foundations. The kohatu acts as an anchor for our aspirations for this whare (building), long term and throughout the build process itself. It gives the building intentionality and wraps it with cultural safety.

A kōwhai tree, to be planted on the completed site, was also blessed as an acknowledgement of the physical resource being invested into the project. “This is a mark of respect for our environment and the resources we take from it to build our houses, villages and cities.” says Lenihan. “When we take, we need to then give. This is an essential principle in Te Ao Maori.”

Te Pūkenga Property Manager Rohe 4|Region 4, Stu Graham, said he was delighted to be on site in Timaru to witness the ceremony.

“With this district’s strong history in the engineering, welding and fabrication fields, it is great to show the intent and support that Te Pūkenga has for providing strong facilities for ākonga to be able to succeed in their futures,” he said.

Ara’s Head of Trades, Peter Sauer, said the project builds on the district’s core skills of engineering, welding and fabrication which have historically been based around the rural sector and port.

“We are really excited to move our premises into the modern-day era and move with the times investing energy and resource into the local district. This building signifies that,” he said.

“We hope to be permeable with local industry, iwi and community engaging in this building. Out of it we’ll train apprentices and a workforce more skilled in the world of engineering, welding and fabrication.”

The modern multi-disciplinary building will replace the current facility which dates back to the 1960s. It will provide a mix of engineering spaces for activities such as welding, fitting and turning, grinding and machining.

The new 700sqm building will see a smooth workflow and strong connection between the existing TJ and TX Blocks, creating a shared learning precinct for the various engineering disciplines and activities.

On hand at the sod-turning ceremony, local architect John Rushton said the brief was to reflect the region and he wanted to also give a nod to the past. “We’ve incorporated two lean-tos to signify the peaks of Aoraki. Extending the existing building means the lean-tos pass each other and create those peaks. It’s also a nod to the history of Aoraki Polytechnic here in Timaru. We wanted to respect that,” Rushton said.

Ara |Te Pūkenga Director Southern Campuses, Leonie Rasmussen, said the engineering facility builds on the strong trades training tradition in Timaru, which started in 1908.

“We are beyond excited to build a new purpose-built engineering workshop for our community. We hope it will stand the test of time like our current facilities, which have seen multiple generations of the same family study with us and go on to work at one of the many engineering businesses in our region.”

“Our new facility will allow us to expand our training options and provide us with the necessary space to replace and change equipment in the future to meet the changing needs of industry,” Rasmussen said.

The new Trades workshop is expected to take six to eight months to complete and will be located at the prominent Theodosia-North Street intersection. Colin Shore Builders is the project lead and director, Nigel Shore, said a great team had been working on the project to date and he was looking forward to “cracking into the project”.