FALE I NEI, FALE I NĀ - THE VĀ BETWEEN US

Entrant: 
Tias Van Roij, TVR DESIGNS

Category: 
1. Student Design Award

This project is a full-scale fale constructed at Lincoln Heights School in Tāmaki Makaurau, Auckland. Developed as a Master of Architecture thesis, it operates simultaneously as research, design, and built outcome.

The school serves a predominantly Pacific student population, and the project emerged from a need for a culturally grounded communal and teaching space. Rather than adopting a symbolic interpretation of Pacific architecture, the intention was to investigate whether a fale could be constructed in Aotearoa in a manner that remains materially authentic while fully compliant with contemporary regulatory frameworks, including Building Consent, Resource Consent, and Ministry of Education approval.

Historically, fale were constructed entirely from timber, assembled by eye, and formed through incremental hand adjustment rather than mechanical standardisation. There was no factory lamination, no digital modelling predicting compound curvature. This project deliberately returned to that tectonic foundation. All primary structural members were laminated and formed in-house rather than outsourced to industrial glulam manufacturers. Curved rafters and radial beams were shaped through iterative bending, clamping, and testing. The domed roof geometry operating simultaneously in the X, Y, and Z axes required direct physical manipulation. While digital modelling informed proportions, final geometry emerged through embodied making. In this sense, the construction process itself became a form of research.

Timber was selected not simply for sustainability or availability, but because timber is intrinsic to the ontology of the fale. Laminated macrocarpa was used for the primary curved elements due to its workability, stability, expressive grain, and durability. Structurally treated radiata pine was incorporated where required to satisfy code compliance obligations.

The use of timber adds value across multiple dimensions. Structurally, lamination allowed complex curvature to be achieved economically at a small scale. Aesthetically, exposed timber framing generates warmth and tactility, reinforcing the open, radial spatial condition fundamental to fale typology. Economically, sourcing material directly from Summerhill and fabricating components in-house significantly reduced procurement costs, enabling delivery within a constrained educational budget. The project demonstrates that compliant engineered timber construction does not necessitate industrial production when knowledge, labour, and precision are invested directly.

Community engagement was embedded in both process and material outcome. Hui were undertaken with teachers, students, and Mana Whenua, Te Kawerau ā Maki, ensuring cultural grounding throughout. Student drawings expressing heritage and narrative were translated into CNC-engraved timber panels integrated into the structure. Parallel to construction, CNC-fabricated timber board games were developed as pedagogical research tools, exploring Pacific navigation, migration across the Polynesian Triangle, and the tectonic logic of the fale. By assembling radial components and engaging structural principles through play, students rehearsed the spatial and cultural systems embedded in the built form, affirming the fale not merely as shelter, but as an active educational device.

Ultimately, the project positions timber as both a structural medium and a cultural carrier capable of reconciling traditional Pacific construction logic with contemporary New Zealand building regulation without reducing either to symbolism.