Te Pa Harakeke wins again

Every party involved in the design and construction of Te Pā Harakeke has won an award for it.

“It’s a huge statement but it’s true, and we’re incredibly proud,” says  Tāhunanui Liaison Councillor Campbell Rollo.  

“My huge thanks to all the contractors involved from design to construction. This was a project that was years in the making. I’m glad that once the decision to fill in the  Modellers Pond and create a new park in the area was made, all contractors came together to deliver something that is functional, meets the challenges of the environment, and encourages children to play with imagination.”  

“It’s become a venue for families to play around, hold an extremely good value-for-money birthday party or even just take a nice stroll after a picnic. It's a credit to the contractors and their teams who gave 110% to create this well-used area.” 

In May 2024, the park won two awards.  

Stantec won the award for Stormwater Project of the year at the Stormwater NZ Conference and on the same weekend, Boffa Miskell won the award for Play Space of the year at the NZ institute of Landscape Architects Conference. 

These two awards are in addition to the two won in 2023 when Nelson City Council won the Healthy Park Award from Recreation Aotearoa and Taylors Contracting and Nelmac were joint winners of a Construction Award at the Nelson Marlborough Branch of the Civil Contractors NZ awards night.  

Judges of the Stantec stormwater award praised the attention to detail and delivery of the project. 

“The client felt like the project exceeded their expectations. Te Pā Harakeke is a much-loved part of the Nelson environment. Stantec led the multi-stakeholder collaboration with the council to develop a solution with quality stormwater engineering that meets the community's needs.” 

The location of Te Pā Harakeke meant that contractors had unique challenges maintaining the tidal flow, opting to include it in the design as one of the park’s features. The shallow parts of the park fill with water at high tide, presenting a fun area for kids to play in the sand and water.  

Boffa Miskell won the award for playspace of the year where judges applauded the use of natural materials.  

“The play and discovery elements are well arranged, very well resolved, use well-considered natural materials but also allow users of the space to create their own elements as well as blurring the line between the created play and the natural landscape. This project is a fine exemplar of landscape architecture in terms of design ability along with nature and place-making for the community to interpret.”