Educational and cultural buildings are among the Tauranga winners in the 2018 Waikato/Bay of Plenty Architecture Awards.

The awards are part of the peer-reviewed New Zealand Architecture Awards programme run by the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) and sponsored by Resene.

The programme sets the benchmark for the country's building projects and recognises the contribution of architects to their towns and communities.

Babbage Consultants won an Education Architecture Award for a new gymnasium for ACG Tauranga that has been designed to ‘stand the tests of time – and teens'.

The gym was planned with flexible ancillary spaces to meet the needs of wider groups of users.

Tauranga practice First Principles Architects received two awards. The first was for Tauranga Intermediate School, described as ‘a good example of a well-planned modern learning environment with a variety of spaces suitable for different pedagogies' by the jury.

First Principles Architects' Mangatawi Tara, a building for the management and operational staff of Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks, received a Commercial Architecture Award. Inspired by Kopukairoa, Mangatawa and Hikurangi – three whales whose stories feature in the lore of Tauranga Moana and Te Arawa iwi – the jury described the building as ‘functional, culturally fitting and strongly connected to a special site'.

Two vibrant Tauranga offices were awarded Interior Architecture Awards. An office for Seeka by Architecture Page Henderson ‘illustrates how a clean, pristine and modern approach to the refurbishment of a derelict 1970s building can increase staff satisfaction, morale and productivity', according to the jury.

Stufkens + Chambers Architects' conversion of a former Tauranga bank building at 53 Spring Street into a shared corporate office environment also received an Interior Architecture Award. 'The architects have delivered a cosy boutique atmosphere with well-detailed junctions between old and new,” says the jury.

Stufkens + Chambers Architects' second award was for Small Project Architecture. Promenade, a temporary installation built for Tauranga Art Gallery's Future Machine exhibition, was ‘a successful collaborative project designed to encourage the public to consider the role of art and architecture as integral components of dynamic cities'.

The awards jury included Taupo architect Gavin Robins, New Plymouth architect Murali Bhasker, and Hamilton architect Megan Scott.