Tupuārangi provides catered accommodation for 283 students, featuring single ensuite rooms, study spaces, and shared lounges, all designed to enable the transition to independence while promoting socialisation, friendship, safety and well-being. Students can request to be co-located with other Māori or Pacific students.
Building design is split into active, reflective and calm spaces using a range of colours to designate areas with natural tones that reduce colour "noise". The design features lots of natural light, plants, user controls, and spatial layout.
Each room has dimmable lighting to enable students greater control over their personal environment, and higher acoustic insulation to dampen sound to provide a quiet space. The ground floor is designed with multiple sound zones for students to choose environments that suit their comfort levels.
Tupuārangi has been gifted its name by the local iwi Ngāi Tūāhuriri. The building is located next to Tupuānuku on the border of the Ilam heritage garden. The design brings the gardens into the building to provide a safe, peaceful retreat that supports the health and wellbeing of students and offers amazing views across the gardens, and surrounding areas. It has the cultural narrative embedded into the design features of the building, creating design that celebrates the weaving together of the Ngāi Tūāhuriri aesthetic and local stories.
Tupuārangi is one of the nine stars associated with Matariki. Tupuārangi (Atlas) has a connection to food and growth. ‘Tupu’ or ‘tipu’ means ‘to grow’ and rangi is taken from Rangi – the Sky, representing sustenance received from the upper canopies of Aotearoa New Zealand’s native forests providing both nourishment and resources for growth.
Dining hall
