New P¯ap¯amoa church an $8m project
Baptist building a winning design and anticipates growth in beach suburb’s east
The fast-growing community in Pa¯pa¯moa East will soon have a new, $8 million place to worship. A $6.5m consent has been issued for a new 450-seat Baptist church, according to Tauranga City Council’s latest building report.
The turning of the first sod at the onehectare site on the corner of Te Okuroa Drive, Stevenson Drive and Piata St was celebrated on May 8.
Ken Edkins, from Te Puke Baptist Church, said the land was bought about five years ago with help from the Bay of Plenty Baptist Association and cost about $2.3m.
The rest of the funding was provided by six individuals who were part of the wider Christian community, he said.
In 2020, the church ran an architectural competition with a $10,000 prize for the best design for the new Golden Sands Baptist Church.
“We wanted the architects to be local.” Five different architects entered designs and the winner was Taurangabased company Stufkens + Chambers.
Edkins said they were also working with Brunel Construction and Golden Sands developers Bluehaven Group. It was an $8m project, he said. “We have a 1660sq m building for the main church part, which gives us a 450-seat auditorium. It has a foyer, child space, creche, hall and commercial kitchen.”
They also had plans to build a community space for like-minded businesses, he said.
“We are building for what isn’t there yet. Pa¯pa¯moa is expected to expand a whole lot more. There is a real spiritual need for people to connect with God and grow in their faith.
“There is a lot more to people than just going to work, going home, building a house. There is a spiritual need within people as well.”
Edkins said his 8-year-old granddaughter, Sienna Martin, helped turn the first sod: “It was pretty special having Sienna on the end of the spade.”
Construction is expected to be completed by this time next year.
Church pastor Colin Gruetzmacher said he was brought on by the Tauranga Baptist Association when the church started in 2018.
“We started the church from scratch,” he said. Initially, it operated from a concrete warehouse in Ashley Pl with a core community of about 50 to 60 people. “We called it the Concrete Cathedral.” After outgrowing the warehouse, the church moved to the former Habitat for Humanity building in Market Pl, where it has been operating since 2019.It now has a community of about 180 people at its Sunday services, he said.
Gruetzmacher said it was a “real privilege” to be able to build a church from the ground up.
Stufkens + Chambers senior associate architect Jonathan Minnee said the design drewfrom natural and social contexts.
“Historically, the local area was a flax cultivation area, so we have used this notion to assist in driving the design concept in different ways.”
“This land also has strong axial linkages to sea connections found at Mauao and Maketu¯ and was regarded as a meeting place between people — something that reflects how the church wishes to be within the community.” The church was one of 164 building consents issued for April valued at nearly $85m in total. These included 18 commercial consents with a total value of $40,056,000 and 72 residential consents worth $41,526,247.