NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Fit-out (2025)
Interior fit-out at 55 Molesworth Street for the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Human Dynamo Workshop designed, fabricated and installed tukutuku panels by artist Len Hetet (Waiwhenua Design), and installed artwork by Ana Iti in the new MFAT headquarters.
Collaborators:
Artists: Len Hetet - Waiwhenua Design Collective (curved wall panels) and Ana Iti (foyer artwork)
Developer: Precinct Properties
Building architect: Jasmax
Main Contractor: LT McGuinness
Creative Production Partner: Human Dynamo Workshop
In September 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade ended its long-running lease at 195 Lambton Quay and moved to a new central-Wellington headquarters at 55 Molesworth Street. Targeting a 6-star Green Star rating and a 5-star NABERSNZ rating, the building has been designed with sustainability at its core.
A mana whenua design framework developed by Precinct Properties in partnership with Te Āti Awa Taranaki Whānui, Ngāti Toa Rangatira and Len Hetet embeds the narratives of Te Ara Tupua and He Auripo into the architectural fabric — articulating whakapapa, kaitiakitanga and the living relationship between whenua, moana and awa.
Patterns drawn from poutama and tāniko reference knowledge systems, protection and continuity, while the pūrākau of Whātaitai and Ngake shapes an understanding of movement and transformation across Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
Curved feature wall
On an upper level of the building, Human Dynamo Workshop worked with Len Hetet (\Waiwhenua Design) from early in the design process to develop a curved feature wall.
Contemporary Māori relief patterns were CNC-carved into thermally modified pine, then precisely aligned around a curved substrate as individual panels. Maintaining consistent carving depth across the changing geometry, while keeping the pattern flowing seamlessly from panel to panel, was one of the central technical challenges of the build.
The panels were engineered as a long-life architectural finish, sitting alongside the building's sustainability credentials with materials chosen for durability and provenance.
The carved relief catches the light differently throughout the day, giving the wall a constantly changing presence.
Foyer artwork
The foyer draws on the same conversation between architecture and mana whenua design.
Ana Iti's Reaching Across a Great Distance is a rippling steel sculpture, reminding us that where water moves there is life.
Human Dynamo Workshop installed Ana's sculpture in the foyer — a return collaboration with Ana Iti following our earlier work on Shelters at City Gallery Wellington in 2022.
Image credit: Magdalena Podbielkowska Bisley
