The oldest stone church in Aotearoa, the cathedral is a Category 1 historic place and, 170 years after its first service in 1846, had to be closed because of the need for earthquake strengthening and restoration. The three buildings are part of a comprehensive development of the cathedral site as a whole, together providing educational resources and learning experiences for the community.

The history of the site is complex. The cathedral, cemetery and vicarage are all located below Pūkākā, Marsland Hill: land that was occupied by Te Atiawa from the 1430s and where Ngā Pōtiki-tauā built Pūkākā Pā around 1730. British colonists started to arrive in Ngāmotu in 1841 and, the following year, the Anglican Church presence was established, to serve both European and Māori throughout the parish. When conflicts over land escalated between the Crown and Māori in Taranaki, the top of the hill was levelled, and barracks were built for the stationing of British troops. The church withdrew its service to Māori. In 1860, rangatira of Ngāti Haua, Ngāti Apakura and Ngāti Koura, killed during the land wars, were buried in unmarked graves in the church grounds, away from the cemetery.

Many years ago, it was identified that there was no Māori representation on the site and, searching to resolve this, Ngāti Te Whiti, mana whenua of Ngāmotu, worked in partnership with the church to create Te Whare Hononga. The project brief was to design a reconciliation space that would address and acknowledge the difficult history of the site, the church and the time of Ngā Pakanga Whenua (the land wars), and to create a place that would become a vessel for telling stories. At the heart of the project is the relationship between the church and Ngāti Te Whiti.

The selected proposal by Tennent Brown Architects placed Te Whare Hononga at the front of the site, giving the building a strong presence and maintaining a visual connection between the cathedral and the vicarage without overpowering the existing buildings in terms of scale. Master-planning for the site saw the successful relocation of the vicarage, creating a deliberate building alignment and a necklace of exterior spaces, provision of a courtyard, pathways and various points of access.

In plan, a parallelogram, rather than a square, was created as a way of acknowledging both the axis between the cathedral and the vicarage and, importantly, the axis between Pūkākā, the Pā site, Paritutu and the coast.

Realising Te Whare Hononga required a collaborative approach on a level beyond the industry standard, and consultation from cultural, historic and archaeological perspectives was pivotal to achieving a successful outcome. Damon Ritai, knowledge-holder and educator, contributed to the development of the concept and design as a cultural advisor. Taranaki sculptor Rangi Kipa had a significant level of creative input and influence, and oversaw many aspects of the design. He developed a design for a sculpture to be placed over a memorial to the fallen chiefs who were buried on the site, based on the concept of a toki coming loose from its bindings.

Taranaki artist Richard Landers created the art within three leadlight windows, each one with a unique kōrero and an intrinsic part of the storytelling within the building. The windows each face a different cardinal point; to the east, the sea is depicted, the south references Pūkākā and Taranaki Mounga, the west faces and acknowledges the rangatira graves.

The idea of the space being used for reconciliation and storytelling is a narrative represented in many elements of the design. The weaving pattern, tāniko, of the exterior panels displays a series of diamonds on top of diamonds, representing the change that occurs when people meet. This was an artistic way of acknowledging the significant change that occurred for Ngāti Te Whiti when the British settlers arrived and the change that has been prompted by the aspiration to have a place of reconciliation and for storytelling that is balanced.

References to the kete, or food basket, on the interior and exterior, create an element of intrigue, encouraging people to investigate, to gather, to learn and to understand the story behind the project. The cladding tone and texture were deliberately selected both to connect and to contrast with the stone of the cathedral and the materiality of the vicarage. The grey of the whetū panels references the colour of the stone walls of the cathedral, while the smooth surface of the material gives Te Whare Hononga its own identity, distinct in form and purpose.

Exhibited within the space are four pou, each of which displays a visual description of whakapapa, genealogy, the foundation of Māori knowledge, mana motuhake, independence, self-determination, taonga tuku iho, caring for historical treasures, connecting with the past, present and future, and whakapono, perspectives of faith, hope and love.