Each tomokanga - Victoria Street, Te Ngākau, and the Mezzanine - offers a unique introduction to this story. These wind lobbies are lined with hand-notched Southland beech profiling that draws visitors inward. Within each entrance, a commissioned rawa translates the mana and significance of fungi, lichen, and native flora and fauna through diverse artistic forms.

This narrative continues on the second floor in Ngā Pou Ruahine, where another commissioned rawa is paired with the same bespoke timber profiling, reinforcing the building’s thematic thread. Nearby, the entrance to the Māori collection is framed by intelligent bookend designs featuring hand-drawn and digital depictions of birds, plants, insects, fungi, forests, and rivers. These elements create a heightened sense of arrival and signal the significance of this reference area. Commissioned artists closely connect to the ahi kā of Taranaki Whānui, whose narratives shape the land on which Te Matapihi stands. As visitors move throughout the building, echoes of local history, worldview, and whakapapa accompany them.

Design cues shift subtly as visitors ascend the floors. Carpet and wall palettes transition into vibrant oranges and sky reds, mimicking the forest canopy where light filters through upper branches and mycelial networks to reach the sky.

Externally, the story extends further. Repurposed stone plinths form the trunks of the nīkau trees above them, some etched with sandblasted kōrero or imagery that speaks to what lies within the building. At the Victoria Street entrance, niho tupua designs in the paving act as wayfinding while hinting at a suspended rawa inside.

On the southern façade, a large commissioned rawa explores themes of identity loss. Confronting in its presence, it ‘bites’ at the busy restaurant district opposite, challenging passersby to acknowledge the impacts of colonisation.

Throughout bookable meeting rooms, Autex panels depicting native birds and insects connect each space back to the overarching story of the natural world. These quiet details ensure that every part of the building contributes to the unfolding narrative.

What first appears to be a library reveals itself, with movement, as something richer: a multisensory journey through histories, ecologies, and the unseen forces that sustain life. Each rawa and design element is an elevation carried in from ancient winds - carrying with it the deeper story of Te Matapihi ki Te Ao Nui.