Architect Antanas Procuta has been contributing to and helping to shape the town he calls home for over 25 years. Initially working from home in Cambridge, Procuta was joined early on by architect Richard Mauriohooho, who recently celebrated 25 years with the practice. Long-standing team members have been a strength of the practice, with architect Geoff Lentz also marking 20 years this February.
Despite taking up premises in Hamilton in 2001 and completing projects across the Waikato, the practice has maintained strong roots in Cambridge, with both Procuta and strategic development manager Phil Mackay based in the Town of Trees. The practice has played an important part in shaping the town, with past work including the masterplanning of the Cambridge Park subdivision, the urban and architectural design of Le Quesnoy Place townhouse enclave, residential homes, and the recently completed Cambridge Police Hub.
The common theme running through these projects is the importance of local context, with each project acknowledging and building on the unique character of Cambridge. In Procuta’s words: “The focus of our design is the individual, crafted response to the site, to the client and to their brief.”
Cambridge Park
In 2003 PAUA was engaged to prepare the overall urban concept and masterplan for a 330-household residential subdivision – now known as Cambridge Park.
The neighbourhood is centred on a public green space at the heart of the community and designed to continue the original 1863 arcaded street design for Cambridge. The road and pedestrian walkway layout references this grid pattern to prioritise pedestrian activities through the neighbourhood. In 2009 the project won the Living Streets Aotearoa ‘Golden Foot Award’ for Walkability.
Le Quesnoy Place
PAUA was approached in 2004 by a local developer wanting to build on the unique character legacy of Cambridge.
Inspired by Cambridge’s sister-city relationship with Le Quesnoy in France and occupying an enviable location on the banks of the Waikato River, the neighbourhood comprises fifteen, high-quality, two-storey homes designed to complement each other with similar architectural forms, materials and features.
Papillon Townhouse
Built for a local farming couple, this townhouse was designed around the conceptual idea of creating courtyard spaces and a sense of spaciousness within a smaller site. This idea prompted the ‘papillon’, or butterfly, shaped layout of the floor plan.
A traditional architectural form was chosen to link with neighbourhood church buildings and houses in what is one of the earlier-settled areas of Cambridge. Local materials such as Hinuera stone were chosen alongside other high performing materials to craft a contemporary home that respects the context of the local area.
Cambridge Police Hub
The architectural brief was to provide a design that reflected the new approach in New Zealand policing and acknowledged the nature of the collaborative partnership between Waikato-Tainui and the NZ Police in this development.
Reflecting on the importance of water in Māori culture, Senior Architect Richard Mauriohooho based the shape of the building on a Waka Hourua, or double hulled waka.
The orientation of the building also makes reference to local maunga – Maungatautari, Pirongia, Maungakawa, and Kakepuku – through the alignment of walls and windows, while local materials were used in keeping with Waikato Tainui strategies.
As well as the prominent Hinuera stone wall featuring a ‘niho taniwha’ pattern, recycled wood and bricks from the police house previously on the site have been used as features in the new building, connecting to the history and context of the site.
Papillon Townhouse
Le Quesnoy Place
