TAP lab stories

Tukutuku at TAP lab

Tukutuku at TAP lab

It's been a year of tukutuku at TAP lab! Mike kicked it off in mid 2025 by designing a mini tukutuku panel to laser cut then weave. A month or so after that Keri from Whare Hau Ako came into TAP lab wanting to cut Tukutuku panels to use in community workshops. It was...

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Donna’s CNC carving journey

Donna’s CNC carving journey

Earlier this year Donna brought her desktop CNC machine into TAP lab to get some help getting it working. Donna’s husband Bill was a very talented wood carver and had bought it to help lessen his workload as he was getting older. Unfortunately he had died before getting it running.

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Kākahu Connie

Kākahu Connie

Working on kakahu while running her store, Huria Designs, at Pride Fest Out West. Connie was a lifelong resident of Te Atatū Peninsula and teaches kākahu (weaving koworai and harakeke flax) at the local community hub.  Already an accomplished artist she...

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Donna-Maree Survivor

Donna-Maree Survivor

Donna-Maree Taonga market stall at Pride Fest Out West. Donna-Maree Smith had a brain meningioma removed 3 years ago, forcing her to have to relearn how to do everyday things. Despite those challenges she proves time and time again that nothing can slow her...

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Old devices, new purpose

Old devices, new purpose

Danny from Kreative Kuki feeling like a winner with her own personal laptop to take home. Auckland council had a number of devices that were being retired from official service. Our IT guy Jaco not wanting to waste this potential asset took them in to refurbish and...

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Rohan’s Bloom Effect Trees

Rohan’s Bloom Effect Trees

Rohan, “I designed the Bloom Effect tree in the form of a stylized Pohutukawa tree.   The Pohutukawa can live for up to 1,000 years, growing in what are often severely adverse conditions. They cling to windswept cliffs with their gnarled roots. They battle a...

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