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Heritage-Led Regeneration for Underused Historic Churches Using a Community-Led Approach in Aotearoa New Zealand

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Date

2026

Authors

Vo, Jordan

Supervisor

Vallis, Stacy
Besen, Priscila
Stevens, Chessa

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Master of Architecture (Professional)

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

The concept of adaptive reuse has become an important strategy for
addressing housing shortages, climate pressures, and the loss of obsolete
heritage by repurposing existing buildings. In AotearoaNew Zealand, many
historic buildings, particularly churches, are at risk of demolition by neglect,
seismic vulnerability, and non‑compliance with current building codes. The
diversity and shift in religious beliefs have left many ecclesiastical spaces
underutilised, while urban expansion has made these site's amenities
increasingly inaccessible by walking. Although adaptive reuse is discussed with growing interest in New Zealand, its
acceptance and implementation are still met with considerable scepticism.
Many building conversions privilege profit and focus on the development of
luxury apartments, upscale retail and exclusive event venues, that serve private
capital rather than public good. This thesis therefore questions how can
underutilised heritage churches be adapted and repurposed through a
community-led approach to promote social cohesion and collective
participation with local cultural heritage? St James Church, constructed in 1900 and listed as a Category B heritage
place on Auckland Council’s heritage schedule, is situated in Mount Eden and
forms the focus of this study. The methodology underpinning this research
adopts a heritage-led design approach and proposes a theoretical framework
based on four key principles drawn from the International Council on
Monuments and Sites New Zealand Charter (2010): minimum intervention, use,
adaptation and risk mitigation. This framework is informed by detailed site
analysis, the examination of international case studies, and a foundation of
existing knowledge established through a literature review. Together, these
methods inform the development of both the design and theoretical
framework, enabling a rigorous iterative design process that generates a
potential model for the adaptive reuse of heritage buildings. A bottom‑up approach is proposed, through a charitable trust model where
residents define programmes, design priorities and important heritage
elements for conservation work. The potential outcome is a resilient,
mixed‑income community that gathers around a democratised heritage asset.
Rather than showcasing elite capital, the reactivated church becomes a shared
social infrastructure that affirms collective identity, encouraging intercultural
dialogue, and demonstrating that heritage conservation and social justice can
coexist, reinforcing one another in the changing modern urban landscape. The
proposed framework offers a transferable model for community-led adaptive
reuse of underused historic churches in similar contexts.

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Permanent link

http://hdl.handle.net/10292/21397

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Masters Theses