Concept Library Diagram 1 — The author encountering sense of familiarity in the School of Architecture and Planning Library at the University of Auckland.

Experimental Processes — Overlaying process reveals an understanding of the site by merging the past, present and the future through the processes of clay modelling and pencil rubbings.

Masterplan And 3 Liminal Paths2 — Masterplan and 3 liminal paths. (Masterplan drivers)

Through understanding the rites of passage and an analysis of the author's personal experience of in-betweenness, this thesis proposes an adaptable and syncretic urban architectural design for newcomers and Waiwera's town and foreshore. This thesis proposes the adaptation of a new bathhouse built on the site of an older bathhouse, in addition to a subsidiary bottled water factory and reception centre for the 'liminal' programme.

The architectural elements in this thesis that define 'liminal' space encourage immediacy of intersubjective experience among the newcomers. These include blurring, ambiguity, dissolution and dissociation, layering and un-layering, familiarising and de-familiarising.

The proposed design aims to blur the distinction between water and land, and between spatial experiences to create healing spaces for both newcomers, the town of Waiwera, and its residents.

In the proposed design, newcomers undergo transformations aimed at stimulating a sense of 'being' as they move through the three 'liminal' paths and ten healing thresholds that use water to create events of familiarity to trigger memory.

The subjects attain the state of transition (liminal) when they encounter the Lavabo and Pedilavium - where the sight of a waterfall held up by ten columns and a spouting geyser offer a sense of familiarity as the subjects are reminded of gushing or spouting water from their past or hometown. The subjects are in-between the state of remembering the past and focusing on the present.

Palaestra Section — Architectural visualisation of sectional drawings of Palaestra.

The subjects attain the state of transition (liminal) when they encounter different kinds of familiarity in the Palaestra. The subjects plunge into the cold water to release the warmth and tension from the previous workout. This act of plunging into the water triggers the metaphor of familiarisation when the subject attains a state of incorporation and begins to recall the motion of jumping into the water, activated by the motion of plunging.

Tank Of Transition And Water Cafe Section — The Tank of Transition and the Water Café are located at the central hub of Waiwera Water Town. Integrated and layering the functions of the Bottled Water Facilities and Reception Centre, this space blurs the boundaries of the different programmes - creating a blurred zone that heightens the subjects’ awareness of their surroundings.

Sensory And Water Lounge Underground Sensory Bath And Sensory Deprivation Tank Section2 — Different sensory experiences in the thresholds of the interconnected baths of Water Lounge, Underground Sensory Bath and Sensory Deprivation Tanks.

The movement and changing water characteristic of the Brackish Bath heightens the subjects’ sense of familiarity as they attain the state of transition (liminal). The subjects remember the action of soaking and swimming and these actions become the metaphor of familiarising The formal elements are then recombined then reformulated to recognisable components. The subjects are in-between the state of remembering the past and focusing on the present.