The Piki Mahuta Centre provides a range of teaching and performance spaces, including drama and music rooms, practice rooms and a media studies room. These rooms are all in response to enhancing the existing context of Waikato Diocesan. The Centre brings a modern, functional and flexible facility, maintaining a scale and proportion fitting to the surrounding buildings and landscape. The building provides a major public face for the school and is also a key visual circulation link for the existing campus as it is situated in front of the existing hall and is connected to existing classroom blocks.

The driving concept behind the Centre was that of 'performance' and this is seen within the structure. The curved walls with their reveals represent stage curtains, different panels of the façade taking on the form of stage sets and the portal frame to the foyer forming a proscenium arch. Floating curved ceiling panels within the double height foyer continues with the theatrical theme.

For more information on this Chow:Hill project, email: brianr@chowhill.co.nz