Pou Kapua
The Pou Kapua is the result of three years of intricate carving by a 30-strong team from New Zealand, Australia, Alaska, Canada and across the Pacific. The carvings depict Māori and Polynesian beliefs, nautical myths and legends, and the histories of migration to New Zealand.
Although visitors to the Event Centre are likely to remember the 20-metre-high pou as the largest totem of its type in the world, engineers may be interested to know it is also the largest known application of state-of-the-art technology in glued-in-rod connections in timber.
Structural design
The Pou Kapua stands 20 metres tall and was carved in three sections. The metre-high base is carved from a piece of swamp kauri estimated to be 50,000 years old. Above the base sits Tangaroa, the guardian of the oceans, carved from a 3-metre length of kauri trunk with a diameter of 1.6 metres. On top of Tangaroa stands the main carving of the pou, hewn from a 16-metre kauri trunk donated by the Te Rarawa iwi of Hokianga. Crowning the main carving is a magnificent depiction of the legendary explorer Kupe, who discovered Aotearoa. Adding to the structural complexity, Kupe is flanked either side by totara shields spanning a total of seven metres.
The carvers envisaged that the lower two sections, the base and Tangaroa, would support the weight of the main carving. A steel rib down the back of the pou to the foundations would resist wind and earthquakes forces. Based on this concept, the shape of the pou was developed and carving began.
This case study is reproduced with permission from e.nz magazine. Subscriptions to e.nz are discounted for schools and TENZ members.
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