How Leonie Durham & Feltex Amesbury Helped Create a Warm Welcoming Wharenui at Tapui Marae

Some flooring choices are measured in colour, texture and wear. Others carry a deeper responsibility. At Tapui Marae in Northland, the flooring selected for the wharenui needed to support a place where whānau return home, gather across generations, share kōrero, sing waiata, rest, remember and reconnect.

This was not a project about choosing a surface in isolation. It was about finding a material that could sit respectfully within a meaningful space, complement the craftsmanship already present, and help people feel comfortable from the moment they entered.

Working alongside Thandi from Thandi Jazmine Design, in collaboration with Ngāti Kura, the ahi kā and whānau, Leonie selected Amesbury carpet for the wharenui. The result is warm, quiet and welcoming, with the carpet gently pulling the elements of the room together without drawing attention away from the purpose of the space.

A wharenui needs materials that support comfort, connection and manaakitanga.

A long working relationship built on trust

The collaboration at Tapui Marae was shaped by a relationship that had already grown over many years.

“I’ve been working alongside Thandi from Thandi Jazmine Design for many years on projects throughout Taranaki, Auckland and Te Tai Tokerau,” the Leonie shared.

That history mattered. Interior design work in a marae setting asks for more than a good eye. It asks for care, listening, patience and respect for the people whose stories are held in the space. In a wharenui, every choice sits alongside existing taonga, craft, memory and whakapapa. A material cannot simply look good. It needs to belong.

Thandi’s role brought together practical design thinking and sensitivity to context. The project team worked alongside Ngāti Kura, the ahi kā and whānau to select a flooring option that felt right for the wharenui and for the many ways the space would be used.

The flooring needed to complement the kōrero and craftsmanship already held within the wharenui. That meant looking closely at colour, tone, texture, comfort and sound. It also meant understanding that the floor would carry daily life, formal occasions, quiet moments, large gatherings and long hours spent together.

Why flooring matters so much in a wharenui

In many buildings, flooring is treated as a finishing layer. It comes near the end of a project and ties together a palette. In a wharenui, it does that and much more.

The marae is a place of return. It is where whānau come home for celebrations, tangihanga, hui, wānanga, working bees, shared meals and everyday connection. People sit, stand, walk, rest and sleep in these spaces. Tamariki move through them. Kaumātua spend time there. Whānau may gather for many hours, often across days.

That makes comfort a central part of the brief.

The floor is one of the most physically felt elements in the room. It affects how warm the space feels underfoot, how inviting it feels when people sit together, and how restful it feels during long gatherings. It also shapes the way sound moves through the space.

A bright or hard surface can lift noise and make conversations feel sharper. A softer surface can help absorb sound, reduce echo and create a more settled feeling. In a wharenui, where kōrero, waiata and shared stories carry importance, that matters.

The right flooring supports the way people gather. It does not compete with the carvings, panels or structure. It helps create the conditions for people to listen, speak, sing, rest and feel at home.

Texture, tone and comfort all helped the carpet sit naturally within the space.

The brief was warmth, comfort and belonging

The team’s brief was clear in feeling, even if the design decisions required care.

The wharenui needed flooring that would create a warm and welcoming environment. It needed to be soft and comfortable, especially for the many hours people spend together inside the space. It also needed to sit quietly within the room, rather than dominate it.

That balance can be hard to achieve. A flooring product may be durable but cold in feeling. It may be soft but visually too busy. It may look right in a sample but feel wrong once placed beside timber, tukutuku, carvings, colour and light.

For Tapui Marae, the selected carpet needed to bring the whole space together while respecting what was already there.

Amesbury carpet achieved that by offering a soft, grounded finish with a quiet visual presence. It helped connect the different elements of the wharenui, creating a sense of unity without taking focus.

The carpet’s tone and texture gave the room warmth. Its softness supported comfort. Its acoustic qualities helped create a calmer environment, one where kōrero, waiata and shared stories could be heard and treasured.

This is where the choice of flooring became more than a practical decision. It supported manaakitanga, the care and welcome extended to people who enter the space.

A short interview with Thandi from Thandi Jazmine Design

To understand the thinking behind the selection, we asked Thandi from Thandi Jazmine Design to reflect on the project and the role flooring played in the finished wharenui.

What guided the design approach for the wharenui?

The approach began with respect for the marae, the ahi kā, Ngāti Kura and the whānau connected to the space. The wharenui already held its own kōrero and craftsmanship, so the design work needed to support that rather than overpower it.

The flooring became one part of a much wider design conversation. It needed to complement the interior, but also serve the people who would use the space in real and everyday ways.

That meant thinking about warmth, softness, durability, acoustics and the overall feeling when people walked in. The goal was for the flooring to feel settled, welcoming and appropriate.

Why was comfort such a key part of the flooring decision?

A marae is not a space people simply pass through. It is a place where whānau gather for long periods of time. People may sit together for hui, listen to kōrero, support one another, sing, sleep and reconnect across generations.

Because of that, the floor has to support the body as well as the room. Softness matters. Warmth matters. A welcoming feeling matters.

The carpet helped create an environment where people could feel comfortable spending time together. It softened the room and supported the way the wharenui would be used, not just how it would look.

How did Amesbury carpet help bring the interior together?

The Amesbury carpet provided a quiet balance. It tied the different elements together without becoming the main feature of the room.

That was important because the wharenui already held significant visual and cultural detail. The carpet needed to work in harmony with those features. Its role was to ground the space, soften it and create a sense of calm.

The result is a floor that feels present but not loud. It adds warmth and cohesion while letting the kōrero of the wharenui remain at the centre.

What role did acoustics play?

Sound is a big part of how a wharenui feels. Kōrero, waiata and shared stories need to be heard clearly. If a space is too hard or echoing, it can make listening more difficult and make the room feel less settled.

The acoustic qualities of the carpet helped soften the sound within the wharenui. That supported a more comfortable environment for hearing, speaking and singing together.

It is a practical benefit, but it also has emotional weight. A calmer sound environment helps people feel more connected to what is being shared.

The carpet quietly connects the interior elements without taking focus.

A floor that supports kōrero and connection

One of the strongest parts of the Tapui Marae project is the way the flooring works quietly in the background.

Some design choices announce themselves immediately. This one does something different. It supports the feeling of the room. It softens the experience of being inside. It creates warmth underfoot and helps the space feel settled.

In a wharenui, that quiet support is valuable.

The carpet helps people gather more comfortably. It helps soften sound. It helps create a sense of welcome. It also helps unify the interior, giving the craftsmanship, kōrero and use of the space room to breathe.

The choice shows how important it is to think about flooring early and carefully, especially in spaces with cultural, communal and intergenerational meaning.

Good flooring in a marae setting should answer practical questions:

• Will it feel warm and comfortable for long periods?

• Will it support the way whānau sit, stand, rest and gather?

• Will it help manage sound in the room?

• Will it complement the existing features?

• Will it feel respectful, settled and enduring?

  
  

At Tapui Marae, the answer needed to be yes across all of these points.

The value of collaboration with whānau and ahi kā

A project like this cannot be shaped by design preference alone. The collaboration with Ngāti Kura, the ahi kā and whānau was central to the outcome.

The people connected to the marae understand the life of the space. They know how it is used, what it carries, and what it needs to feel like. Their insight helps guide decisions that may seem small on paper but have a lasting effect in practice.

The design process respected that knowledge.

Working alongside Thandi, the team could consider the flooring from both a design and lived-use perspective. The result was not simply a product selection. It was a shared decision shaped by the purpose of the wharenui and the people who return to it.

That kind of collaboration takes time, but it leads to better outcomes. It helps ensure the finished space feels coherent, useful and deeply connected to its people.

More than a finish underfoot

The flooring at Tapui Marae shows how a material choice can carry meaning without needing to be the centre of attention.

Amesbury carpet helped create warmth. It added softness. It supported acoustics. It brought the interior together in a calm and respectful way. Most of all, it helped support the purpose of the wharenui as a place where people feel welcomed, connected and at home.

The flooring was never simply about the finish. It was about helping create a space where people feel welcomed, connected and at home.

That idea stayed at the heart of the project. The wharenui is a place of return, and every part of it should support that feeling.

A soft, warm floor supports the many hours whānau spend together.

A warm welcome that can be felt

The completed flooring at Tapui Marae does what good interior design should do in a meaningful place. It serves the people first.

It gives softness for long gatherings. It brings warmth to the room. It helps kōrero and waiata carry with care. It sits respectfully alongside the craftsmanship already held within the wharenui.

Most importantly, it supports the feeling of coming home.

That is the real success of the project. Not a floor that asks to be noticed, but one that helps people settle in, reconnect and feel the welcome of the marae beneath their feet.