Source
https://www.branz.co.nz/pubs/research-reports/er118/ — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Domain routing: i03_local_wisdom_cultural_heritage · i05_good_governance_transparency · i07_fulfilment_basic_needs · d04_sustainable_habitat_building · edt_ssi_convergence
Summary
BRANZ External Research Report ER118, commissioned through the Building Research Levy (2025). Authors: Rihi Te Nana, Rau Hoskins, Tōmairangi McRae, and Amy Knight of Kakariki Consulting. Uses Kaupapa Māori research methodology (pūrākau / storytelling). Five housing wānanga with 30 participants representing four iwi and one rangatahi research group: Ngāti Kuri, Ngāti Pāoa, He Puna Mārama (Whangārei), Whare Ora / Panapa Ehau (Te Tairāwhiti), and Generation Kainga Rangatahi researchers. Concludes with seven recommendations to BRANZ, the building sector, and government.
The dominant finding across all five wānanga: Māori communities want a Mātauranga Māori Building Framework (“Māori Building Code”) that aspires to exceed the minimum NZ Building Code on tikanga, longevity, affordability, and intergenerational wellbeing — framed as “building sovereignty” parallel to food and soil sovereignty. Hawaii’s 2006/2018 building code, which accommodates traditional indigenous architecture within a regulatory framework, is cited as the principal precedent.
Key claims
Historical suppression of Māori building knowledge:
- Raupo Houses Ordinance Act 1842 — NZ’s first building regulation — prohibited construction of traditional Māori raupo whare and suppressed indigenous building knowledge; raupo insulation pre-dated NZ’s 1977 thermal insulation code by 800+ years.
- Mīmiro (traditional Māori post-tensioning technique from wharenui construction) is being actively revived and applied to contemporary Māori buildings as a seismic resilience measure.
Māori Building Code (Mātauranga Māori Building Framework):
- All five wānanga converged on a single priority — a Māori-specific building code aspiring to exceed NZ Building Code minimum on tikanga, longevity, affordability, and intergenerational wellbeing; Hawaii 2006/2018 building code as principal precedent; Whare Ora / Panapa Ehau actively developing.
- Framed as “building sovereignty” — a parallel to food sovereignty and soil sovereignty movements.
Iwi innovations documented:
- Ngāti Kuri: multi-generational Pākāinga at Kapowairua, Te Paki Station, Ngātaki; Waimārama Ōhanga Rau (diverse economies) linking housing development with employment creation.
- Ngāti Pāoa: papakāinga at Ōmaru — communal design, warm-roof technologies, low-carbon materials, training whānau in construction; pātaka kai with community refrigeration for communal food storage.
- He Puna Mārama (Whangārei): climate-resilient homes; rangatahi-led Māori construction company; CHP absorbs upfront land and consenting costs to enable below-market home ownership; “building capability, capacity… building futures for our students.”
- Whare Ora / Panapa Ehau (Te Tairāwhiti): closed-loop housing ecosystem — 60-year forestry block at Ruatōrea (selective harvesting of alternative timber species) feeds Kāinga Tū offsite manufacturing; financial literacy and home ownership programme for whānau.
Affordability:
- “Affordability is fifty thousand dollars” (Ngāti Kuri) — mainstream 30% income threshold does not capture Māori reality; cooperative financing models proposed to reduce upfront cost barriers.
- He Puna Mārama cross-subsidy model absorbs land and consenting costs to deliver homes at below-market value.
Occupation Order barrier:
- 78% of land shares must consent for development on Māori land — structurally inaccessible for most whānau due to fragmented ownership from historical confiscation. Whānau build without consent out of necessity; basic services sometimes cut off as coercive pressure. ER118 frames unconsented construction as resilience, not disregard.
Seven recommendations (for citation):
- Ground research in Kaupapa Māori praxis
- Support Māori Building Code development
- Support Rangatahi leadership and innovation
- Strengthen sustainable partnerships
- Science with Tikanga
- Position housing as economic development
- Long-term commitment and accountability
Key thesis insights
- Kaupapa Māori research methodology (pūrākau / storytelling): the report’s own methodology is a case study of indigenous research praxis — relevant to research methods chapters.
- Colonial suppression → regulatory erasure: the 1842 Ordinance Act is NZ’s earliest documented case of regulation suppressing indigenous technology — a founding historical argument for the decolonisation of building standards.
- “Building sovereignty”: parallels food sovereignty and soil sovereignty movements; frames building code reform as indigenous self-determination — a thesis-level concept for the governance and technology chapters.
- Science and technology as servant to mātauranga: “all the brown kids who are tutus” — rangatahi are enthusiastic about science and technology when it serves iwi aspirations; mātauranga Māori and modern technology are framed as complementary, not competing.
- Housing as economic development: multiple iwi explicitly reject housing as a cost-only proposition — Waimārama Ōhanga Rau links it to employment creation; He Puna Mārama links it to workforce training and capability building.
- Maihi Ka Ora (Te Ara Maihi Ka Ora): NZ’s 30-year national Māori housing strategy (Crown-Māori partnership, Te Tiriti-based) — the governing policy framework for Māori housing at national scale. [RT_059]
SSI connections
- I03 Local Wisdom — primary feed: mīmiro revival, Māori Building Framework, rangatahi–science integration, raupo knowledge suppression.
- I05 Good Governance — Maihi Ka Ora policy framework; Occupation Order structural barrier; He Puna Mārama governance model.
- I07 Basic Needs — Māori affordability definition; unconsented housing as informal self-sufficiency; Ngāti Kuri Pākāinga model.
- I08 Innovation — Whare Ora closed-loop supply chain; Ngāti Pāoa pātaka kai refrigeration.
- I01 Financial — Waimārama Ōhanga Rau diverse economies; He Puna Mārama cross-subsidy.
Research targets
Documents to retrieve
- [RT_058] Hawaii State Building Code accommodation for traditional indigenous architecture (enacted 2006, amended 2018) — primary precedent cited across all five wānanga for the proposed NZ Māori Building Code; locate specific statute (Hawaii Revised Statutes §107 or related). → I03, D04
- [RT_059] Te Ara Maihi Ka Ora — The National Māori Housing Strategy (NZ Government, 30-year) — primary policy document for Māori housing governance and supply reform under Te Tiriti; thesis context for governance and basic needs. → I05, I07, thesis
Open questions
- Māori Building Code development: is Whare Ora / Panapa Ehau’s effort publicly documented beyond ER118?
- Does the Kāinga Tū offsite manufacturing facility have a published case study or web presence?
Connections
Links to
SSI indicators (3): I03: Local Wisdom & Cultural Heritage · I05: Good Governance & Transparency · I07: Fulfilment of Basic Needs
EDT domains (1): D04: Sustainable Habitat & Building Technology
Concepts (1): EDT–SSI Convergence
Referenced by
SSI indicators (5): I01: Financial & Economic Self-Sufficiency · I03: Local Wisdom & Cultural Heritage · I05: Good Governance & Transparency · I07: Fulfilment of Basic Needs · I08: Innovation & Appropriate Technology
Sources (3): OT_051 · REG_027 · REG_029
EDT domains (1): D04: Sustainable Habitat & Building Technology