Government of Samoa - Consulate

CommunityCommercial
Written By Stephen Roke

Mangere, New Zealand

The openness of the traditional Falae and transparency through the adjacent office building at ground level provides clear sight-lines that reinforce the legibility of entry points.

 
The consulate office building in timber batten and glass, above the curved entry canopy
Under the canopy, looking out to the malae and the fale beyond
The consulate from across the malae, transparent at ground level by design
The deep canopy carried on timber columns along the office frontage
Office and fale together, a campus rather than a single building
The street elevation, with the fale roof and the flagpoles behind
The fale structure, its rafters lashed by hand in the traditional way
Lashing detail in dark and light fibre, patterned across the rafters
Looking up the central post of the fale, which seats more than 450 people
The fale from the car park, believed to be the largest of its kind anywhere
Sightlines run under the office building so the malae is overlooked without being fenced
 

The project consists campus style development with two building, a three level consulate office of approximately 1500 square metres, one level consulate offices, one commercial office floor and a level of ground floor retail, a separate traditional Fale building seating over 450 people which we believe to be the largest in the world, a formal Malae or traditional gathering area and an associated 55 space car park.


The openness of the traditional Malae and transparency through the adjacent office building at ground level provides clear sight-lines that reinforce the legibility of entry points into and out of this space allowing a high level of passive surveillance at all times. From within the Malae, view corridors connect back to the Mangere town centre.

The office building’s strong visual connections were created from the north facing gathering areas and balconies. At ground level, physical connections from
the retail level and Fale link these main internal spaces together.

Project

Client: Government of Samoa Consulate and Fale

Location: Mangere, New Zealand

Status: Completed

Award: NZ Wood Resene Timber Design Awards 2017- Interior Innovation Winner

Stephen Roke
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