Pa Tuna Museum Design

Pa Tuna Museum

Individual project – Opua, New Zealand

Museum Design · Cultural Heritage · Architectural Storytelling

Pa Tuna translates to “eel lure” in Māori. Eels are central to Māori diet, myth, and spirituality; stories, songs, and artefacts reflect their enduring cultural significance. Central among these artefacts are hinaki baskets, intricately woven eel traps made of flax, designed to allow adult eels in while sparing young ones swimming upstream.

The brief was to design a museum in Opua, Northland—a coastal town where freshwater from the Kawakawa River merges with the sea, an environment where eels thrive. Inspired by the hinaki basket, the museum is conceived as both artefact and container of artefacts.

The building is located at the edge of the mangroves, where tidal fluctuations prevent seedling growth. This placement allows the museum to appear partially veiled by trees, blurring into its surroundings and inviting discovery much like archaeological artefacts “hiding in plain sight.” Visitors on the cycle path encounter the museum serendipitously, as its form filters through the mangrove mesh.

Structurally, the design employs prefabricated wooden arches. A double-layered envelope echoes the hinaki’s form: the outer perforated panels create a sense of being inside a lure, while the inner solid panels protect artefacts and create insulated spaces. Exhibition panels are arranged in a zig-zag sequence, encouraging a journey of exploration rather than passive viewing. The café deck opens to the bay, shaded by floating ceilings that evoke the sensation of being “in between” land, water, and sky.

The Pa Tuna Museum weaves cultural heritage, environmental sensitivity, and architectural storytelling into a space where Māori eel-fishing traditions are celebrated and kept alive for future generations.

3D renders of programming and perspectives are below. For a more detailed account on the site conditions, please click on the "open project" link at the top.