Hamilton Airport

Hamilton Airport is the waharoa (gateway) to the central North Island, boasting the fourth longest commercial runway in the country for a catchment of around 497,000 people.

With development plans in place, the client wanted to enhance the vehicle approach to the airport by adding strategic planting that would thrive and complement existing planting.

Natural Habitats responded to the brief, carefully planting almost 1500 native plants from the main entrance, along the roadside and around car parks. Drawing inspiration from the Waikato’s native ecology, the plant palette features specimen with complex texture and strong colour. However, it is Hebe Wiri Mist that is the crowning feature to this landscape.

An ode to First Light, Wiri Mist pays tribute to the species that was especially bred by plantsman Jack Hobbs for Hamilton’s millennium commemorations. As part of the commemorations, the Council planted 1000 First Light in public gardens around the city, including Hamilton Airport.

At the time of this project in a market restrained by the effects of covid, only one First Light specimen was available, so Wiri Mist was substituted for its similarities.