Kopupaka Reserve

Overview

Kopupaka Reserve is product of a design-led approach drawing together engineering, ecology and cultural values to create a significant new public open space within the rapidly developing area of Westgate in north-western Tāmaki Makaurau.
 
An integral feature of the Masterplan for the new Westgate Town Centre, Kopupaka Reserve forms part of works implemented to restore the degraded rural Tōtara Creek catchment and to manage stormwater effects of the new development.

Kopupaka Reserve is a new form of hybrid park that challenges expectations around the design and use of streams and wetlands. It illustrates how urban growth can be balanced with ecological restoration, the creation of new public space and development of a strong sense of place informed by Māori cultural values.

Kopupaka Reserve has been recognised nationally and internationally for its success, and sets a new benchmark for Tāmaki Makaurau for placemaking based on environmentally responsive design outcomes.

The name Kopupaka is an ancestral name in this area relating to the meeting point of the Tōtara and Waiteputa Streams, located slightly downstream from Kopupaka Reserve. The name was given by Mana Whenua.

Project Summary

​​​​​​​​​Westgate Town Centre is one of Auckland Council’s strategic transformational projects that will deliver significant commercial and community infrastructure to meet projected growth within Auckland’s north-west.

Masterplanning of the Town Centre  included streets featuring permeable paving, rain-gardens and swales that are integrated within a broader green infrastructure network. Kopupaka Reserve provides the backbone infrastructure for the attenuation and detention of stormwater run-off from the streets and buildings that will be developed for this major new community centre. 

The design of the main wetland ponds will include a playground, a botanical weaving garden and a skate park. Cycleways and connections to the residential, town centre and industrial zones were also incorporated into the design planning of the riparian corridors and road networks.

The design of Kopupaka Reserve is based on four major themes: ecology, culture, community and engineering. A collaborative design-led process has ensured that these themes were interwoven into the design, from concept right through to implementation on site.