Opened in July 2021, the three buildings at Kōkihi contain 95 apartments, including 47 KiwiBuilds. There’s also a bike shed, residents’ lounge and a pool that’s powered by solar heating.

As with Tuatahi, its predecessor in the partnership, the design of Kōkihi pays homage to Hotunui, the wharenui that lives at Tāmaki Paenga Hira, Auckland War Memorial Museum. This wharenui was loaned to the people of Tāmaki Makaurau by Ngāti Maru and the other Marutūāhu Iwi.

With tukutuku patterns ingeniously woven into its brickwork, the design of Kōkihi references motifs found inside the wharewhetu including (stars) and toa (warriors). Precast patterned concrete panels reflect light and shadow according to the weather and time of day. Kōkihi is a building steeped in the mood of Tāmaki, with a magnificent copper waharoa (arch) set at the pedestrian entrance, carved with patterns referring to Kaiwaka, the star of the iwi that heralds the beginning of the lunar month of Kohitātea (January) or Hakihea (December).

As well as referring to a type of sea cabbage, the name Kōkihi means ‘emergent green’, which can perhaps be taken as a statement on Ockham’s burgeoning relationship with Marutūāhu. It also alludes to nearby green spaces, such as the Te Auanga Oakley Creek, a bushwalk along a lively stream edged with native bush, that wends its way to a 6m waterfall.