The town of Taupō rests on the northeastern shore of Lake Taupō, at the heart of Aotearoa New Zealand’s North Island. The Taupo region holds special significance for the country, making the airport renovation and town centre waterfront revitalisation projects essential to the long-term prosperity of the community. 

The Taupō Airport is a key transport hub and a strategic asset for the Taupō region, supporting both tourism and business activity. GHD was entrusted with the design and construction of the new Taupō Airport Terminal, with a budget of NZD 9.2m. This project required a high-connectivity transport hub, spacious enough to accommodate a 50+ seat aircraft while capturing the essence of the region’s identity.

Our GHD team coordinated a multidisciplinary layout including fire, electrical, civil, mechanical, hydraulic and structural engineering work and provided a comprehensive range of services from initial concept design to construction monitoring. Throughout the design and construction, GHD worked collaboratively with all stakeholders to fulfil our client’s vision and meet the unique project requirements. Key design features within the Terminal include a 4-tonne Mauri stone artfully aligned with the distant mountain silhouettes and two impressive 6-metre-tall rimu trees in the background. Gifted to the Airport by local Iwi, both elements presented GHD with exciting and challenging design criteria. Sustainable, resilient and seismically safe design construction methodologies were employed together with acknowledgement of mana whenua and local Iwi.

This compact, sustainable, modern and future-proofed facility hosts a wide array of services, notably featuring what’s been dubbed as the “shortest baggage conveyor in NZ.” GHD seamlessly collaborated with airline industry stakeholders to meet precise design criteria, accommodating increased passenger capacity while leaving room for expansion in response to growing travel demands to and from the Taupō region. 

Careful attention was dedicated to the floor layout and underfloor infrastructure, providing the necessary support for the potential future implementation of security screening equipment. 

The Town Centre Transformation stands as an iconic and lasting legacy for Taupō. The mission was clear: to reposition State Highway 1 (SH1) away from the Lakefront and Central Business District, fulfilling the 1960s aspiration of reconnecting the town to the lake.

Initially, the idea of a SH1 bypass raised concerns about Taupō losing its vibrancy, but the Council stood firmly behind this vision, investing their long-held financial reserve from Taupō Electricity Limited into the East Taupō Arterial project. Our team tackled the challenges head-on and succeeded, translating the client’s vision into reality while attaining the desired design and functionality.