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Southland materials take centre stage within Te Unua build

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Te Unua Museum of Southland

Te Unua Museum of Southland will feature local beech, including on the new regional museum’s double-hulled waka.

Timber highly sought-after for its beauty – harvested sustainably in western Southland – will play a starring role in the build of Te Unua Museum of Southland.

Lead contractor Naylor Love was scheduled to wrap up physical construction of the building soon, ahead of its public opening in Invercargill in 2027.

Among the materials used throughout the build was Southland maple beech – commonly known as silver beech, or tawhai – which was notably featured on the striking double-hulled waka suspended above the museum’s grand central foyer.

Te Unua Museum of Southland Director Eloise Wallace said the use of the timber throughout the new museum was meaningful not only because it had been sourced from western Southland, but because of its history in New Zealand.

Southland was home to some of New Zealand’s largest remaining stands of native beech forest, and since the turn of the 20th century the region had been synonymous with its milling.

“Southland beech has been used to build homes, furniture, and public spaces throughout New Zealand for decades, and it’s quite poignant to use such a highly-prized material from right here in our own backyard as we bring Te Unua to life,” she said.

“The beech and sawmilling more generally also represent a really fascinating chapter in our region’s history. It embodies lots of stories about community, the conservation of our native forests, and the heritage of our people and place here in Southland.”

The sustainably-sourced beech used at Te Unua Museum of Southland was harvested by Tuatapere-based company Lindsay & Dixon, which had been operating throughout the region since 1931.

Lindsay & Dixon co-owner Rodney Lonneker, at the Tuatapere mill.

Lindsay & Dixon owner Rodney Lonneker said while every project the company was involved in was meaningful, the opportunity to showcase western Southland beech at the new regional museum was a significant one.

“To me, it’s all about the story behind it. Lindsay & Dixon has been operating in western Southland for 90-odd years. I’m from Riverton, and I’m logging in some of the same areas my family were logging in over 100 years ago, in the Longwood hills and the Pourakino. The history of sawmilling in our region, especially around Tuatapere and Riverton and western Southland in particular, is phenomenal,” he said.

“It just means a lot, because it’s part of our heritage. It makes sense – the Southland museum, using Southland timber.”

He and his wife Amanda bought the mill in December 2025, and knew how much the company meant to the Tuatapere community, Lonneker said.

“The story of sawmilling is huge in Southland. It’s a privilege to be a part of it, and it’s a privilege for that story to be part of the new museum.”

Initially, beech was not popular with early European settlers, who preferred native softwoods such as rimu and tōtara because they were less dense and easier to work with.

However, as milling technology improved during the 20th century, beech became known as a premium wood. It had continued to be highly-prized since, due to both its beauty and its durability.

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