National Wetland Trust Homepage

National Wetland Centre

The National Wetland Trust has bought 0.4 hectares of land on the shore of Lake Kopuera at Rangiriri, 70 km south of Auckland to build a state-of-the-art interpretation centre, with research and educational facilities, wetland gardens and heritage trails.

A recent offer by the Waipa District Council to build the proposed centre on land adjacent to Lake Serpentine (above) is being seriously considered by the Trust, pending highway access permission and agreement with the Department of Conservation.

Lake Serpentine is near Ohaupo, between Hamilton and Te Awamutu. Close to Hamilton Airport, Mystery Creek (home of Field Days), Karapiro world class rowing facility, Otorohanga Bird House, Waitomo Caves and Maungatautari Ecological Island.

View Larger Map

Read our Wetland Centre Business Plan (1.6 Mb)

Wetland Centre Design

The Trust has employed architects and landscape designers to develop a concept plan for the National Wetland Centre. See our design brief below.

We want the Wetland Centre to be:

enticing to the casual visitor, as a place to enjoy and learn.

an educational facility for wetland managers, schools, farmers and others who seek a deeper understanding of wetlands.

a depository of wetland information and knowledge.

a facility for furthering wetland research.

the start of a walking trail around Lake Kopuera and of vehicle-based wetland ‘Heritage Trails’ around the Waikato and nationally.

a meeting place for wetland organisations and others with an interest in the natural environment.

The architects and landscapers have created a design that blends the buildings with the landscape.

Interpretive displays and their messages will be integrated throughout the whole site, indoors and outside. Displays will encourage visitor understanding of wetland values and issues, and support for their conservation and restoration.

The site leads onto the wetlands surrounding Lake Serpentine, managed by the Department of Conservation.

View the Wetland Centre plans on these PDF files. These were developed for our Rangiriri site and will be reviewed if the Trust opts for the larger Serpentine location.

National Wetland Centre Concept Plan (700.3 kb)

National Wetland Centre Site Sketches (628.6 kb)

Design Brief

The architects were asked to design a building with the following qualities:

A distinctive New Zealand character.
Eco-friendly and energy efficient.
Integrated with the surrounding landscape design.
Visually appealing and creative - to draw people in and hold their attention.
Take advantage of the near-surface water table.

The landscapers were asked to design a landscape that:

is part of the educational package, creative, innovative, inspiring
is integrated with the building design
has a totally indigenous character
demonstrates as many wetland types as feasible
exhibits wetland flora (and fauna if feasible)
is disability-friendly
is a lead-in to the walkway to Lake Serpentine
caters for the needs of children
has areas where groups can congregate at places of special interest
makes allowance for a possible future plant nursery.

The land for the Wetland Centre was bought with generous grants from the WEL Energy Trust and Trust Waikato.

Last updated 6 October 2009
Address: c/o Box 177, Pukekohe 2340, Te Kauwhata, New Zealand