Te Papa external view. Photograph by Michael Hall. Te Papa
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Our buildings Ko ō mātou whare

Te Papa is a landmark building in the heart of Wellington. It’s an engineering feat, rich with symbolism, and accessible to all.

  • A large building that has oddly shaped walls photographed at dusk. There are three flags outside the entrance.
    Te Papa’s main building: Engineering facts

    Te Papa’s main building: Engineering facts

    What sets our building apart? Just how many base isolators support us? How many rugby fields could you fit inside Te Papa?

  • Entrance boulders
    The three boulders on our forecourt

    The three boulders on our forecourt

    The three boulders outside the main entrance symbolise our commitment to New Zealand’s land and people.

  • A man in a red top is pointing at a very tall wooden carving. He is describing something to the man crouched next to two small children.
    He waharoa at Te Papa – Gateways to Aotearoa New Zealand

    He waharoa at Te Papa – Gateways to Aotearoa New Zealand

    The three main waharoa (gateways) at Te Papa are significant and special to our museum in several ways.

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    Stories hidden inside our building

    Stories hidden inside our building

    There are millions of stories contained within the walls of Te Papa – some of them literally! Pete Bossley, who was Design Director at Jasmax Architects when they designed and built Te Papa, takes us on a tour of the building to reveal some of the lesser-known facts.

  • Two young children have their hands on a big black ball made of stone set in a stone box. The ball has water on it.
    The spinning ball in the main entrance

    The spinning ball in the main entrance

    The spinning ball in our entrance is the oldest material in Te Papa as the rock it’s made from is 1.4 billion years old.

  • A white and yellow building with cars parked in front of it.
    Our other buildings

    Our other buildings

    A lot of work happens at our Tory Street facility including research, documentation, digitsation, curatorial authoring, and development of our taonga (treasures) knowledge of Aotearoa New Zealand.

  • Jars of fish on a long shelf with hundreds of fish in jars
    Te Papa receives funding for new storage facility

    Te Papa receives funding for new storage facility

    Te Papa has been allocated $42.9 million in Budget 2022 to create a new storage and research facility that will house part of New Zealand’s natural history collection.

  • Te Papa's base isolators
    Halting the jolts: How Te Papa resists earthquakes

    Halting the jolts: How Te Papa resists earthquakes

    How did Te Papa survive the Kaikoura earthquake nearly unscathed?

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    Putting the pieces back together after the earthquake

    Putting the pieces back together after the earthquake

    On 14 Nov 2016 an earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale shook Wellington awake. All-in-all Te Papa’s buildings and its collection were virtually unscathed. Out of over two million collection objects, only nine were damaged.

  • Base isolators
    Exhibition: Quake Braker

    Exhibition: Quake Braker

    Go underground to see the amazing Kiwi innovation that ‘puts the brakes on’ in an earthquake.