Sheep and Dog Buildings, Tirau
The small town of Tirau, New Zealand, has the unofficial title of ‘Corrugated Capital of the World’.
By the late-1980s, Tirau, which had once been a thriving farming community, was in serious decline. A local businessman Henry Clothier, instigated a revival-of-sorts, by using discarded corrugated iron to create sculptures and structures, with the intention of attracting tourists passing by on the nearby highway.
The first building was the ‘Sheep’, constructed in the 1990s, and used to house a wool and craft store, making it a prime example of mimetic architecture. The building comprises a mixture of ground and first-floor showroom space, with a café and kitchen. The shop-owning family live on the first-floor in the self-sufficient mezzanine level.
The ‘Big Dog’ building was also built in the 1990s to house the visitor information centre, while the ‘Ram’ building adjoins the ‘Sheep’ and was completed in 2016 to increase showroom space and amenities.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
CLC and BSR process map for HRB approvals
One of the initial outputs of their weekly BSR meetings.
Building Safety Levy technical consultation response
Details of the planned levy now due in 2026.
Great British Energy install solar on school and NHS sites
200 schools and 200 NHS sites to get solar systems, as first project of the newly formed government initiative.
600 million for 60,000 more skilled construction workers
Announced by Treasury ahead of the Spring Statement.
The restoration of the novelist’s birthplace in Eastwood.
Life Critical Fire Safety External Wall System LCFS EWS
Breaking down what is meant by this now often used term.
PAC report on the Remediation of Dangerous Cladding
Recommendations on workforce, transparency, support, insurance, funding, fraud and mismanagement.
New towns, expanded settlements and housing delivery
Modular inquiry asks if new towns and expanded settlements are an effective means of delivering housing.
Building Engineering Business Survey Q1 2025
Survey shows growth remains flat as skill shortages and volatile pricing persist.
Construction contract awards remain buoyant
Infrastructure up but residential struggles.
Home builders call for suspension of Building Safety Levy
HBF with over 100 home builders write to the Chancellor.
CIOB Apprentice of the Year 2024/2025
CIOB names James Monk a quantity surveyor from Cambridge as the winner.
Warm Homes Plan and existing energy bill support policies
Breaking down what existing policies are and what they do.
Treasury responds to sector submission on Warm Homes
Trade associations call on Government to make good on manifesto pledge for the upgrading of 5 million homes.
A tour through Robotic Installation Systems for Elevators, Innovation Labs, MetaCore and PORT tech.
A dynamic brand built for impact stitched into BSRIA’s building fabric.
BS 9991:2024 and the recently published CLC advisory note
Fire safety in the design, management and use of residential buildings. Code of practice.