Te Manawa is a community hub located in Auckland, New Zealand. It is Auckland Council’s first fully-integrated community hub. Officially opened on 6 April 2019, Te Manawa services and resources include a library, customer service centre, rooms for hire, commercial kitchen, creative spaces, work and study areas along with a Citizens Advice Bureau. It serves the suburbs of Westgate, Massey, West Harbour and Hobsonville. Before its official opening, Te Manawa made a soft launch on 26 March 2019 to test the team and the facility, which attracted two thousand visitors on that day. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Te Manawa had a two-month long closure - closed on 20 March 2020 and reopened to the public on 20 May 2020.
Building
Te Manawa, known as Westgate Library and Multi-Purpose Facility before the Maori name was gifted, is the central piece of work of the new Westgate town centre development. It was designed by Warren and Mahoney in collaboration with Rawstorne Studio for its interior architecture. The project was one of four 2019 Interior Awards Winner. The project was also granted the DINZ Best Awards – Public & Institutional Spaces – Silver Pin in 2019. Te Manawa’s green design includes stormwater detention and re-use, solar power and heating and air-conditioning.
Space and space names
In Te Reo Maori, Te Manawa means ‘the heart’. The name Te Manawa as well as other space names within the facility was gifted by Matua Heta Tobin of Ngāti Whātua Ngā Maunga Whakahii o Kaipara. The name reflects the buildings purpose to be at the heart of the community, a place where people are the life blood. Te Whare Tapere meaning a place of entertainment, story-telling, dance, games, music and other entertainment in Te Reo Maori is the children's space. This anchoring piece of interior architectural work was designed by multidisciplinary award-winning artist Robin Rawstorne. The space looks like a pool in the middle of a forestglade, with ripples radiating outwards intending to generate a sense of ownership and investigation in the children. Te Whare Tapere also includes a stage for storytelling and performances. Nooks are one of the most attractive features for many children allowing them to curl up in. On top of encouraging children to the use space to the most, better flexibility of furniture and space rearrangement was another design principle. Te Ara Tapuwae, also located on Level 1, includes the creative hub and studios. Ara means 'a route'; whereas Tapuwae means 'footprint'. Te Ara Tapuwae was used to be a reference to all ancestors. Hinengaro, a Maori word for mind, thought, intellect, consciousness, awareness, was used to name the community space on level 2. Those spaces on Level 3 were given the names of Kokiri meaning move forward, promote, advocate, lead and Ngatahi meaning united with one thought.
Artwork on Display
A Hokioi sculpture created by Te Rongo Kirkwood, a local glass artist is on permanent display at Te Manawa. The work is glass on a metal frame work and it is a representation of the now-extinct Hokioi. The artwork is more or less the size of those very big and scary birds that used to snack on moa.
Services
Library services
Te Manawa inherits the library services of Massey Library. It is a part of the wider family of Auckland Libraries, which has extensive collections of books, e-books, newspapers, magazines and online resources, even free movie streaming. There are designated places for its fiction, non-fiction, children's and teen's collections at Te Manawa. Te Manawa's community language collections include Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Pacific Island languages, such as Fijian, Samoan. There are 8 PCs available for customers to use for free; whereas, Wi-fi connection is available for everyone regardless of having a library membership or not. Te Manawa has a designated study space allowing customers to sit down and study quietly. Back in 2010, then Waitakere City Council noticed that Northwest Auckland was growing so fast that the Massey Library was unable to meet future demand. A proposal to build a new three times larger library plus town square and bus interchange was put on table. Massey Library was permanently closed on Thursday, 21 March 2019 shortly before the soft launch of Te Manawa.
Programmes and events
Te Manawa has a varied programme of free events and classes, including Wiggle and Rhyme, learning 3D printing, trying out a recording studio, and improving conversational English. Te Manawa also has a team dedicated to Programme and Outreach.
Council services
Te Manawa provides a good range of community services. At this stage, local residents can pay their Council rates, register a dog and make general Auckland Council service inquiries under one roof and served by the same team. Te Manawa expects to further expand the council services, such as building consent submission, in the future.
Community venue hire
Te Manawa has auditoriums, meeting rooms as well as a commercial kitchen for community use with a small charge. The combined auditoriums can accommodate up to 200 people. AV Suite and Studio 2 were made available for public use since July 2020. AV Suite is fitted with audio equipment and is best suited for recording and editing purposes. Both AV Suite and Studio 2 are fitted with sound dampened walls and windows to improve sound quality.
