Howick Local Board says national award reflects “smart investment” in fast-growing Flat Bush
A playground in Flat Bush has been named the best new play space in the country at the 2026 Recreation Aotearoa Parks Awards.
“A win for Howick,” Howick Local Board deputy chair Kai Zeng said.
“In one of Auckland’s fastest-growing and most diverse areas, this is more than a playground, it’s smart investment in community life.”
Barry Curtis Park took out the Playspace of the Year award for projects over $500,000, recognising upgrades completed last year to one of the largest urban parks in New Zealand.
The 94-hectare park was originally opened by Sir Barry Curtis in 2006 on former farmland.
Last year’s upgrade extended and reworked the park’s pavilion, turning the former Wetlands Building into an open space for family gatherings with new landscaping, seating and an accessible public toilet.
The playground itself was designed in partnership with the local iwi, Ngai Tai ki Tamaki, whose history with the surrounding Otara Creek corridor includes using it as a food gathering place for eel and freshwater crayfish.
A landmark play tower in the new design echoes a traditional watch tower once used by Ngai Tai ki Tamaki ancestors to observe the area.
Zeng said the park’s popularity reflected its role in a growing community.
“Every time I go past, it’s packed with families from the Howick Local Board area and beyond.”
Recreation Aotearoa’s Parks, Play and Open Spaces Programme Manager Kieran Smith said the award winners showed an evolution in how recreation spaces were designed.
“They respond to real local needs, reflect the identity of place, and create spaces where people can connect, move, and belong,” Smith said.
The project also measured its embodied carbon during design, a first for an Auckland Council parks project, aimed at cutting waste and setting a benchmark for future developments.
Eastview Reserve in Glen Innes, in the neighbouring Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board area, won the Community Park of the Year award at the same ceremony.
