The cultural significance of the nearby Waikato River gave us the inspiration for the name Te Awa – ‘The River.’ As the newest addition to The Base shopping complex in Hamilton, Te Awa is also New Zealand’s largest mall. Our brief from Tainui Group Holdings was to create a stronger and more contemporary identity. We achieved this by using the Niho Taniwha symbol across all elements of the Te Awa identity to give the mall a distinctive feel while maintaining important cultural links to the region.