This project brief was to take a 1940s take house and turn it into a retreat at Makara.

 

Through investigating, experiencing and exploring the Makara area I realised that the restoration and repurposing of the state house needed to be in close association with restoring and repurposing the surrounding landscape through a native revegetation project involving the community.

 

The Makaracarpa House is a beneficial exchange between Wellingtonians and the land at Makara. As the land is replanted the physicality of planting and weeding lets people get their hands dirty, experience a hard physical days work, and the satisfaction of contributing to a growing forest that will stand for centuries.