Puke Ariki – Pukeiti, The Living Museum

About This Project

A Living Story Told Through Design

Pukeiti’s The Living Museum exhibition shares the garden’s landscape, history, and native plant life, along with the conservation efforts behind its transformation. Our team designed and built interactive features to engage visitors of all ages, especially children and families.

Touch, Lift, Learn: The Leaf Wall

We created a lift-up leaf wall to help visitors explore different plants found in the garden. First, we printed a large-scale garden photo onto wallpaper to form the backdrop. Then we cut colourful Valchromat fibreboard into leaf shapes using our CNC router and flatbed printer. Each leaf included two connected pieces, with a hidden rebate that secured the top of the fabric and kept the fixings out of sight.

To keep the leaves flush with the wall, we recessed plastic letter mounts into their backs and attached them to hidden cups on an MDF wall. We cut matching shapes from green-toned fabric, layered them over the boards, and stitched thick foil between the layers to add a fun crinkle sound when touched. Then we applied printed flower transfers, replicating real blooms from the garden.

Visitors can lift each leaf to discover educational content about that plant — including which animals or pests it attracts. The display invites curiosity and offers a sensory way to learn about nature.

The Garden Passport Challenge

We also built rubbing stations for the Garden Passport Challenge, a free activity connecting Pukeiti, Tūpare, and Hollard Gardens. Families collect a passport and complete pencil rubbings at each stop.

For signage, we repurposed rusty shovels. We spray-painted stencil lettering onto each blade, then scuffed the surface with a scourer and aged it using a mix of salt, vinegar, and oil. We constructed a bench from repurposed pallet timber and fixed a laser-engraved acrylic disc to the top for rubbings. A terracotta pot recessed into the bench holds pencils, fastened from beneath with a simple bracket. We completed the setup with log seats and a vintage beer crate to give the area a garden-shed charm.

Immersive Details That Complete the Space

We added muddy footprints printed onto anti-slip clear vinyl on hard surfaces and used carpet vinyl in soft areas. We cut matte black vinyl text to apply directly to the walls, giving the space a clean, gallery-inspired finish. Flatbed-printed foam PVC panels delivered extra context and storytelling.

This immersive exhibition helped visitors experience Pukeiti in a fresh way.

It also earned our team a Silver Medal in the Exhibitions category at the 2021 NZ Sign & Display Awards — a proud moment for our whole crew.