Tōtara Haumaru is a world-class elective surgery centre at North Shore Hospital: eight theatres, an endoscopy unit with four procedure rooms, five inpatient wards totalling 150 beds, and a healing garden set within an interior courtyard.

Early in the wayfinding strategy phase, we saw an opportunity to integrate navigation cues with the building's cultural narrative. Working with the cultural framework developed by HAUMI, we crafted a pattern language inspired by the bird life endemic to the levels of the tōtara unfolding as experiential moments from welcoming gestures to significant thresholds between public and private space.

Designed for adaptability, the patterns appear across wall treatments, manifestations, etched timber, soft furnishings and 3D forms on reception desks and feature walls — requiring close coordination with architecture, interiors and landscape specialists.

Complemented by a distinct colour palette for each level, the system helps visitors navigate Tōtara Haumaru.