done

Done. is the first Regenerative Project Management company in Aotearoa. We integrate regenerative practice with our project management, design management, cultural and environmental service offerings. We work alongside people and place to regenerate the built and natural environment to a state of good health that thrives and improves over time.

Tapu Te Ranga Marae.

CLIENT | Tapu Te Ranga Marae Whanau + Screentime Productions

OUR ROLE | Sustainability Advisor + Build Team

Tapu Te Ranga Marae, in Wellington’s Island bay was built in the 1970’s by the late Bruce Stewart when he was released from jail with ‘$25 and a dream’. Tapu Te Ranga was an incredibly unique, ten-story, urban whanau Marae made predominantly of reclaimed timber and metal from dismantled car bodies. Bruce passed away in 2017, leaving his legacy to twelve children. In the summer of 2019, this whanau decided to take on a Marae DIY as a way to come together and move forward after their father’s death. All the work undertaken as part of the DIY had to follow Bruce’s philosophy of making the most of what’s around you and being inventive with existing materials to avoid waste and the need to by new.

The whanau were keen to learn earth-building processes so that they could use the earth available within their 300-acre site as a material for future development. We taught Marae whanau how to build using a rammed-earth technique and tested how their own soils and clay worked during construction. Following four decades of hanging on to materials in case they were needed – the Marae underwent a major clean-out and a significant recycling area was created to better organise future potential-waste streams generated by Marae hosting and events. Using all reclaimed timber, the two marae entrances were given an overhaul to provide a sense of arrival and manaaki to visitors – as the Marae is open to, and often used by, anyone who needs it. From the entrance, prominent timber pou were installed to guide the path to an atea, where a tomokanga and landscaping were introduced to define what was and otherwise empty lawn area. The toilets and showers were fully renovated, again to enhance manaaki to visitors.

Unfortunately, this incredible structure was destroyed by fire in June 2019, just a few months after the DIY took place - though we know the Stewart whanau will find a unique way to make the most of what they have and move forward once again.