Tāneatua Police Station - Bay of Plenty, New Zealand

There are no cells, bars or barriers to be found at this police station in the small Bay of Plenty settlement of Tāneatua. Designed by Oxygen Architecture, the inviting, open plan layout is accentuated externally by Vulcan Cladding in Protector – White applied in a visually engaging herringbone pattern.

Replacing the old police base building on the same site, which burned down in 2018, the architects created the new design using the drivers of ‘community, connection and protection’, with glazed openings connecting to decking in an accessible, residential style on the street-facing facade.

The textured layout of the Vulcan Cladding seems to allude to tukutuku panels and woven baskets – a form of traditional Māori decorative art used to embellish meeting houses.

Not only used externally, this crafted appearance also continues through to an interior wall. Initially, the Protector - White coating will present with the heat tempered brown tones of Vulcan timber underneath, but the white pigment will eventually become more prominent as the timber is exposed to weather. A process that is brought to life in a Watch Me Weather time lapse video.

Input from Ngāi Tūhoe (tribe) partners helped inform the look and feel of the building, which is the first of its kind in New Zealand to solely use Te Reo Māori for its signage. Seating for meetings and conversations is residential in nature and positioned with collaboration in mind, lessening any sense of intimidation in entering a building of this nature. With timber walls and ceilings, as well as a timber floor repurposed from a former cheese factory in the area, the spaces inside are warm and light-filled.