Lake Whatumā Visitor Education Centre

Project location
Lake Whatumā, Central Hawkes Bay

Client
Aorangi Māori Trust Board

Services provided by Frame Group

• Solutioning, Concept Design and Visualisation

• Detailed Design and Engineering

Partners

• Whatumā Management Group – experience strategy and project management

• IresonCo – strategic fundraising and project management

• Locales – visitor experience design

• Local artist – cultural design elements

Frame Group is supporting the development of a new Visitor Education Centre and surrounding access infrastructure at Lake Whatumā, a culturally and ecologically significant wetland in Central Hawke’s Bay.

Working in close collaboration with iwi and project partners, Frame Group helped develop visualisations and concept designs to support fundraising, community engagement and long-term planning. The designs integrate safe, accessible access to the lake alongside key features including boardwalks, bird hides, an outdoor amphitheatre and interpretation elements.

Every aspect of the project is shaped to reflect the 100-year vision to restore the lake, protect species such as the critically endangered matuku and tuna, and reconnect people with the cultural, historical and ecological narratives of the wetland.

Building on the concept design phase, Frame Group is now delivering detailed design for the Visitor Centre and access structures to help bring this long-term vision to life.