Te Manawataki o Te Papa
Te Manawataki o Te Papa, the heartbeat of Te Papa, will be the new civic precinct for Tauranga. It will feature a library and community hub, civic whare (public meeting house), museum and an exhibition gallery.
The precinct is designed to meet the cultural and social needs of Tauranga, as one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing urban centres.
CLIENT
Tauranga City Council / Willis Bond
LOCATION
Tauranga, NZ
COMPLETED
In Progress (estimated completion 2028)
Our Scope
Marshall Day Acoustics is involved in the acoustic design of the Library and Community Hub, Civic Whare, Exhibition & Museum (CWEM) buildings. Our work supports the project’s ambitious goals of achieving a 6-star Green Star sustainability rating and WELL Gold accreditation for health and well-being. We provided advice on external and internal sound insulation, reverberation control, and noise control for plant and services. Additionally, we are managing construction noise and vibration effects, particularly during the foundation works.
CHALLENGES
The main acoustic challenge for the Library and Community Hub building was its mass timber hybrid structure, which offers benefits such as a low weight-to-strength ratio and low embodied carbon, but has limited sound insulation properties. To address this, ceilings in enclosed spaces such as meeting rooms, were designed with both sound insulation and absorptive properties.
In the CWEM, the concave geometry of the civic whare (public meeting house) building presented an acoustic challenge with potentially uneven sound distribution in a communication-critical space.
A substantial amount of exposed building services in both buildings required careful attention to ensure appropriate background noise levels.