The Naidi Community Hall in Naidi came to fruition when a local NGO, the Naqaqa Giving Foundation, approached CAUKIN Studio.

Naidi village, located on Vanua Levu in Fiji, existed without a community hall for 7 years, when their previous community hall fell into disrepair and was deemed unsafe for use.

At the time the Naidi Community Hall was the 5th successful project fruit of a partnership between CAUKIN and Naqaqa Giving Foundation.

Serving a village of 400 people and 75 households, the hall’s main function was to provide a space for the community to come together for meetings, celebrations, funerals and weddings.

In Fijian culture, the community hall is the cultural and operational heart of a village.

The design was the result of a collaborative process that began 6 months prior to the project start date, and included input from the community at every stage of the design development.

The project construction took place over the course of 8 weeks, with a team of 20 international participants working alongside over 30 local workers.

Much of the detailing happened concurrently with the project construction, with all participants living with the local families and gaining experience through cultural immersion.

CAUKIN Studio worked in partnership with The Jazmin Fund, that helped to encourage a performing arts theme to the hall and its design.

The brief was to create a space which enabled the Naidi Community to express themselves creatively whilst providing a structure strong enough to take shelter in - in the event of any future natural disasters.

With the collaborative influence of the community, it quickly became clear that the building must provide a space to sing, create local handmade crafts and perform their famous ‘Meke’, a traditional Fijian dance.

CAUKIN Studio believes that having a safe, functioning and beautiful space to express oneself creatively is vital to personal and community growth.

The design takes its form from theatre staging. Three large counter-weighted, top hung doors, open to create a stage, playing host to performances of the village ‘Meke’.

This results in a space that can remain cool on the hottest days.

The building’s structural design was carried out by Centrespace Design, who have supported CAUKIN’s work for the past 4 years.

Since completion, the hall has hosted a local concerts, arts and crafts workshops, a reading hour every evening for the children as well as weddings and funerals. In recent months the hall has become a registered kindergarten with 17 children in attendance everyday.