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Our Development

Exciting things are happening at the

Ōtorohanga Kiwi House!

 

We are currently undergoing a major redevelopment to enhance your experience and further our commitment to wildlife conservation.

 

This transformation will create state-of-the-art habitats for our native species, improve visitor facilities, and ensure that we continue to provide the most personal wildlife experience in New Zealand.

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Our 50+ year facility has done us proud, but it is now time for renewal.

 

Our new spaces will bring you closer to the incredible creatures that call Aotearoa home, including kiwi, tuatara, pāteke, and more.

 

The redevelopment also includes immersive educational experiences, eco-friendly upgrades, and expanded breeding programs to protect endangered species.

 

By visiting us, you're not just enjoying a day out – you're directly supporting conservation efforts that safeguard New Zealand’s wildlife for future generations.

 

Join us on this journey and help shape the future of the Ōtorohanga Kiwi House!

 

Stay tuned for updates as we create a more sustainable, engaging, and impactful environment for both our wildlife and visitors.

Kiwi House family visit

The Living Building Challenge

What if every single act of design and construction made the world a better place?

The Living Building Challenge is a philosophy, advocacy tool, and certification program defining today’s most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment. It addresses all buildings at all scales and is an inclusive tool for transformative design. Whether the project is a single building, a renovation, an infrastructure project, or a park, the Living Building Challenge provides a framework for designing, constructing, and improving the symbiotic relationships between people and all aspects of the built and natural environments.

Our mission is a society that is socially just, culturally rich, and ecologically restorative.

Kiwi House gecko

FEATURES OF THE LIVING BUILDING CHALLENGE

Living Building Challenge 4.0 – A Visionary Path to a Regenerative Future

01

Culturally Rich 

A building designed and constructed to function as elegantly and efficiently as a flower: a building informed by its bioregion’s characteristics, that generates all of its own energy with renewable resources, captures and treats all of its water, and that operates efficiently and for maximum beauty.

02

Socially Just

A city block or a college campus sharing resources from building to building, growing food, and functioning without a dependency on fossil fuel–based transportation.

03

Ecologically Restorative

true sustainability in our homes, workplaces, neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities—Socially Just, Culturally Rich and Ecologically Restorative.

Ferns Kiwi House

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Find out all the work were doing at each stage of our development

ZONE 01

Off Display / Back of house

  • Insect breed for release facility

  • Service area and holding aviaries

  • Gecko units

ZONE 02

Forrest Habitats

  • Walk though aviary No # 3

  • Blue Duck and Bell Bird Aviary Extension

  • Island species enclosure

  • Kākā enclosure

ZONE 03

Alpine & Wetlands Habitats

  • Walk through aviary No # 1A

  • Walk through aviary No # 2

ZONE 04

Heart of the Park

  • New kitchen

ZONE 05

Nocturnal House

  • Existing kiwi house extension

ZONE 06

Nocturnal Habitats

ZONE 07

Visitor Experience

  • New kiwi house

  • ​Transitional huts and green roofs

  • Night tramp tunnel

  • Green wall/insect house

  • Secondary entrance pergola

  • Information/Visitors Centre

  • Temperature controlled Tuatara exhibit

  • Barry Rowe aviary extension

  • Pergola

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