Evoking a well-loved community venue through the poetic expression of its history, while embedding cultural narratives to create a contemporary plaza.
Titahi Bay Marine’s Hall was built during WW2, as a venue for recreation by US Marines who were camped nearby. When they shipped out to war in the Pacific, the hall was used by the community as a theatre, cinema and public meeting space.
Decades later, after generations of community use, the hall was deemed structurally unsafe and closed in 2012. A replacement facility was considered unfeasible, so Porirua City Council proposed a commemorative landscape in its place, to recognize the hall’s legacy within the community, rather than the Marines themselves, who are memorialized elsewhere close by.
Boffa Miskell was engaged to design a public open space for use by the community that had used the hall, while addressing legacy issues of security and safety. The hall was located close to shops, a small library, a boxing club and other facilities, many of which had been built with little regard to the spaces created among them. The open and accommodating design solution ties in successfully with its multi-faceted built and open space context, while incorporating safety and security elements to create a successful public environment.
Borrowing ideas from the hall’s varied historical use, including cinematic projection and theatre; and recalling that the land on which the hall was located is important to Ngāti Toa, we worked with the council and local iwi to create a welcoming outdoor space that could accommodate aspects of the activities that the hall had once hosted.
