Redeveloping Taranaki Base Hospital: Te Rau Mātāpuna o Taranaki

Te Rau Mātāpuna o Taranaki, the East Wing building at Taranaki Base Hospital, is a six-storey facility covering 22,000m2 and is the new home for the hospital’s acute clinical services including Emergency, Radiology, Intensive Care, Maternity and Neonatal. It also includes a laboratory and rooftop helipad. The gifted name, Te Rau Mātāpuna, references the many pools and sources of water on Taranaki Maunga.

The building is New Zealand’s first healthcare facility to achieve a five-star Green Star certification and one of the largest fully electric hospital buildings in New Zealand. Beca provided Building Services engineering as well as Sustainability and Green Star services, Climate Adaptation Planning, Resource Management Planning, Aviation engineering and Traffic Planning services for this project.

This follows on from the same team’s work on Te Huhi Raupō, the hospital’s renal unit (opened in March 2023), and the new Energy Centre which has been built to house critical electrical infrastructure and provide back-up power to the hospital campus. Beca’s Sustainable Buildings team also worked on the purpose-built Te Hōpua Whakahauora cancer centre, which opened in November 2025. 

Local people working on local projects

“For our local New Plymouth team, the opportunity to work on a facility that significantly improves patient experience for the community is hugely rewarding. They’ve worked together with local contractors on several projects at Taranaki Base Hospital now. When you have local people working on local facilities, there’s a continuity of service and a level of personal investment in the project that results in really excellent outcomes,” Beca’s Market Lead – Healthcare Karl Wilkinson says.

Beca Building Services Engineer Alwyn Dinnison (pictured above) has been working on the site for many years and enjoys the opportunity to work on such a significant project for the region.

“We’ve been involved with many projects at Taranaki Base Hospital over the last 10 years, from the early concept stages, masterplanning and building condition assessments through to the enabling works, and construction of the new East Wing building. We were also involved in the first stage of the masterplan, the Acute Services Building, which was completed in 2013,” Alwyn says.

“We’ve got a great local team here, supported more widely by Beca people around New Zealand. It’s pretty cool to work on a local project, especially a project the size of this one. There are lots of local subcontractors who’ve been involved. It’s really beneficial to have local people who are available here in the district to be on site,” Alwyn says.

Designed for reduced environmental impact

Ben Masters manages Beca’s national Sustainable Buildings team and is based in Taranaki. 

“Our team led the integration of sustainability into the project, with the goal of making sure we were bringing long-term value outcomes for the client and the local community. Promoting enhanced health and wellbeing for patients and staff was a focus, in conjunction with reduced environmental impact and a facility that is resilient to climate change impacts. A climate change risk assessment and adaptation plan was used to inform the design response,” Ben says. 

“The project has been fundamental to the decarbonisation of the whole campus. Through the use of innovative two-stage heat pumps, it has allowed for the decarbonisation of the existing Acute Services Building, which also becomes all-electric alongside the East Wing. This is a real milestone and something the local community can be really proud of,” Ben says. 

The design targeted 70% less operational carbon emissions than a traditional New Zealand hospital and a 50% reduction in energy usage.

“There is zero combustion of fossil fuels required as the building uses all-electric heat pumps and systems,” Ben says. “The design also targeted a 60% reduction in the use of potable water (non-clinical uses) compared to a typical New Zealand hospital. There is a rainwater harvesting system for flushing and irrigation.” 

Te Rau Mātāpuna o Taranaki features a high-performance building envelope plus highly efficient HVAC systems that enhance thermal comfort for patients and staff. Operable windows in appropriate spaces allow fresh air and a connection to the outdoors. The design also allows for plenty of daylight and views. 

“Hospitals are traditionally heated with gas, so Te Rau Mātāpuna o Taranaki is pretty unique. The heating and domestic hot water systems are provided by electric heat pumps. It’s great for energy efficiency and saves the hospital money. Hospitals rely on resilient services, so it’s great that it has a resilient electrical infrastructure, which we’ve been heavily involved with over the course of this project. It’s pretty exciting to have been part of the first 5 Green Star hospital building in New Zealand,” Alwyn says.