Te Matapihi Bulls Community Centre | Bulls

Rangitikei District Council aim to amalgamate the aging and dispersed community facilities spread throughout the Bulls township and concentrate the civic programme around a new Town Square.

Architecture Workshop (AW) was appointed first to masterplan and test two possible sites in Bulls for the new civic place and then to design a new hybrid community centre that included the main civic functions of Town Hall, i-Site, tourism office and Learning Hub (library).

The building provides a heart for the town, a place in which to gather – whether it be in the intimate space of the library, through regular school events in the town hall, or their combined use for larger festivals. The public meeting rooms on the third level also provide a means for visitors to orientate to the river and surrounding country. The carapace acts as solar screen and evokes the origins of the town as a crossing place over the Rangitikei River.

AWARDS

NZIA Western Architecture Award, Public Category, 2021

NZIA Western Architecture Resene Colour Award, 2021