Sydney Opera House or Ngatea Library?: New facility to transform community

Thursday, 23 July 2026

Current and former Hauraki District Council mayors Toby Adams (L) and John Tregidga (R) formally opened the new library together.

Ngatea’s new library and community centre could create a communal identity not dissimilar to the Sydney Opera House, says the architect who designed it.

Perched in the same place as its bulldozed predecessor, the facility came in just under the $4.6 million budget and opened on Wednesday.

The project sparked some controversy spurring former Hauraki District Council mayor John Tregidga to apologise to the crowd at the opening on Wednesday, saying council “got it wrong” in the beginning.

A solid crowd descended on the new centre to view Ngatea’s latest investment.

'What really disappointed me at the time was this community started getting a bit divided and that hurt. I haven't forgotten it.'

He described the finished product as a fantastic asset and said it was brilliant for the community.

The interior design was a fan favourite.

Current mayor Toby Adams echoed the sentiment, saying the decision at the time to demolish the old building and build new saw 'pitchforks go through our shirts', but he’s now thoroughly proud of the “very special” project and how it will serve the community.

“Inside is absolutely magnificent… it’s such a warm and inviting area.”

Speaking to Waikato Times, Adams said early talks began in 2009, with the project gaining traction in 2015.

A “library in the park” feel was sought from architect Stirling Burrows.

“The cost to bring that [old building] up to speed was just far too much so the brave decision was to, unfortunately, start from scratch.'

'There's always emotional decisions that come behind that but I think now that [the public] have seen what it looks like and how it feels, it was the right decision to make.'

Kaiaua community librarians Gill Hewson (L) and Chris Barlow (R) enjoying their time at Ngatea.

Architect Stirling Burrows was also behind the design of Waihī and Paeroa’s libraries, and said public buildings should “express the best of architectural design and technology at the time“.

“In a society that's increasingly atomized, it's one of those things that still brings us together,” he said.

The new centre was designed to be more than simply a place to read books.

'It's something which people start to attach their identity to as well. It's perhaps a subconscious thing but I'm sure when you get things like the Sydney Opera House and stuff like that, it's really strongly linked to the place… people love their libraries.

The opening even spurred out of town community librarians to travel, with Kaiaua-based Gill Hewson and Chris Barlow singing the building’s praises.

Library services team leader Marion Kroukam said a facility of this spec has been missing in Ngatea.

'I think it's just so friendly and warm… we were just thinking where we could sit, get a book and read.“ Hewson said.

“It's such a wonderful position to look out onto the fields… it's really quite inviting,' Barlow added.

A standout design feature for many was the deliberate choice of no right angles. Chief executive David Speirs described them as “awesome”.

The purpose-built meeting rooms and areas for council staff to hot desk, he added, helps create an accessible and connected building that's 'more than a library'.

'Hats off to the architects and the builders because we made some changes to fit into that budget but we made them on the fly… I don’t think the end product suffered at all from a few tweaks.“

Library services team leader, Marion Kroukam, is excited for Ngatea to hit the levels of the Paeroa and Waihi facilities, adding the extra space opens the door to grow the list of community programmes and events.

'This was spoken about in my interview three and a half years ago… I'm just super excited for the new things we can offer the community.'