Media Release | 10 Nov 2026

Central Pacific Collective's transformative development Our Whare Our Fale has won a prestigious national award at the 2026 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) National Architecture Awards, taking out the Housing – Multi Unit category in association with architecture firm First Light Studio.

The award recognises Our Whare Our Fale (OWOF), a Pasefika-led housing development in eastern Porirua that reimagines the Pacific village in Aotearoa through affordable, intergenerational homeownership centred on community, culture and belonging.

OWOF was shortlisted for the NZIA National Architecture Awards after winning the 2026 Wellington Architecture Awards. It also won the Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities Community and Affordable Housing Property Award at this year’s Property Council New Zealand Rider Levett Bucknall Property Industry Awards.

Conceived and designed by Central Pacific Collective, the first stage of Our Whare Our Fale delivered 18 affordable homes arranged around a central malae and common fale, creating spaces for gathering, connection and everyday village life. Another 32 homes are scheduled for completion by the end of the year.

Central Pacific Collective Chief Executive Fa'amatuainu Tino Pereira said the recognition was significant not only for the project itself, but for what it represented.

“This award is powerful validation that a housing model designed by Pasefika, for Pasefika, belongs in the mainstream of New Zealand architecture. Our goal was not to win awards. We set out to create homes where our people could thrive and where community sat at the centre of the design. To have that vision recognised nationally is incredibly meaningful,” he said.

The national judging panel described Our Whare Our Fale as “an exemplar for affordable housing in urban Aotearoa. Planned around a malae and common fale, the masterplan places people and community first, strengthening a sense of belonging and helping neighbours look out for one another.”

It said OWOF’s design instils a shared sense of ownership and that the project was “architecture as genuine community benefit.”

OWOF has already gained national attention as a new model for affordable homeownership, subsequently delivering health, education, employment and wealth outcomes.

The Our Whare Our Fale programme is intended to deliver hundreds of homes for Pasefika families over time. Celebrating the award, Pereira says CPC’s focus remains firmly on creating pathways to homeownership for Pasefika families.

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Media contact:

media@cpcollective.org.nz
029 043 44524