The Historic Village

Overview

Long-term building renewals programme at The Historic Village in Tauranga, focused on preserving the site’s heritage character while ensuring the buildings remain safe, compliant and fit for ongoing community use. The Historic Village is owned by Tauranga City Council.

Set across five and a half hectares and home to more than 60 heritage structures, many of which were relocated to site in the 1970s and 80s, the Historic Village requires continuous refurbishment to address ageing construction methods and evolving building standards.

About the project

The client’s objective is to revitalise existing buildings, strengthen structural performance, and improve functionality, all while retaining the distinctive charm and historical significance of the Village. Works undertaken during this phase centre on the external refurbishment of seven buildings, including roofing replacement, window restoration, painting, gutter upgrades and targeted seismic strengthening.

Key elements of the work included:

Remedial upgrades to existing cladding and joinery to improve durability and weather performance.
Structural strengthening of roof framing, including the installation of new roofing iron where required.
Seismic strengthening and fire system upgrades to the Village Radio and Gemstone buildings, alongside improvements to the accessible stairwell to Level 1.
Specialist restoration works to the Village Chapel, a c.1900 heritage building incorporating significant Māori and Pākehā elements and now widely used as a wedding and event venue. This involved re-piling to correct the sloping floor, extensive reinstatement of the decorative arched window, and seismic stabilisation of the bell tower at the chapel entrance.
Landscaping works to the front of the Chapel, integrated with the remedial building works to create a dedicated space suitable for photography and public use.

The multiple buildings are of varying sizes and configurations, ranging from approximately 42 m² single-storey structures through to 360 m² two-storey buildings.

Yard and external spaces were managed to suit each building’s function and access requirements, with landscaping incorporated where appropriate.

Delivered under a lump sum contract, with Design & Build elements applied to seismic and accessibility upgrades, the programme was carefully staged within a live public environment.

2026

Client testimonial

The Historic Village Manager Blair Graham emphasises the importance of keeping The Village active throughout the works, with minimal disruption to tenants, visitors, and events.

“Fosters have been more than accommodating, scheduling projects around what’s happening in The Village and the people who come here” he said. “It’s great to work with a ‘can do’ organisation with ready workarounds for different situations.”

Quality and value are other key considerations.

“The Fosters team are absolutely conscious of value. They are very good at working with the architect to ensure the work is cost-effective. It’s been so enjoyable seeing them genuinely engaged with nutting out the best solutions to add value to our existing assets.”

Blair noted that Fosters have stood out for health and safety.

“Tidy and well-organised sites, calm site managers who are very methodical and efficient in what they do, that’s Fosters” he said.

“I’ve worked with a lot of construction companies over the last decade, and Fosters are up there with the best of them. They’re a good bunch of guys, always accommodating, nothing is a problem. Their interaction with our tenants and the public has made working within a construction site easy for us.”