The design broke several of Lake Tekapo's village controls. The dome, at over twelve metres, stood well above the height limit, in a district whose rules exist to keep the sky dark. RCP engaged the Council and the affected neighbours early, before lodging, to build the case for a limited-notified consent.
RCP managed the design and delivery as Engineer to the Contract, starting at feasibility and sizing the building to a budget earlier proposals had overrun. On a remote alpine site the specialist work had to come early. RCP staged the base build to get foundations and services in while the dome was still being designed, modelled and tested, and ringfenced the dome's cost with a fabricator building it larger than any it had made before. When the night-time experience moved onto the critical path, RCP ran the change control so the client could see the cost of each move.
Te Rehua opened as the front door to the Mackenzie night sky, a place to take it in through both Māori and Western eyes, and a home in Takapō for Ngāi Tahu's stories.
Awards
2020 New Zealand Institute of Architects, Canterbury Architecture Award, Public Architecture
