Whakatāne District Council has approved the appointment of architectural consultants to undertake detailed design work for the proposed Whakatāne Museum and Research Centre redevelopment project, a necessary step before an application for major project funding can be made to the Ministry of Culture and Heritage. Funding applications can only be made to the Ministry once each year and are likely to be required by the end of June.

Council agreed at its meeting on 23 April to engage Irving Smith Jack, the architectural consultants responsible for the design of award-winning Te Kōputu a te Whanga a Toi – the Whakatāne Library and Exhibition Centre – to undertake the work. Along with the architects’ services, the detailed design phase will require structural, services and mechanical engineering input, as well as electrical and telecommunications specifications, fire protection design and quantity surveyor estimates. The full project, which has an overall estimated cost of $4.5 million, is conditional on the outcome of the Council’s Long Term Plan 2015-25 submission hearings and deliberation process, which will conclude with the adoption of the final LTP in late June.

Mayor Tony Bonne says a comprehensive and robust process was followed when originally contracting architectural services for phase one of the project, and significant timing and financial benefits can be achieved extending that working relationship. “Irving Smith Jack have already done a substantial amount of work on the redevelopment concept, and we have the advantage of having seen what they can achieve, which in our case has been a building which has received local, national and international acclaim,” Mayor Bonne says.

“The Te Kōputu project has been extremely successful in delivering arts and culture experiences to our community. The Museum redevelopment aims to build on that success and ensure that our collection storage and research facilities are fit-for-purpose into the future.”