“Every place we document today is one future generations won't have to imagine.”
Thiago Amaral, Founder of Tohu Heritage
© 2026 Tohu Heritage New ZealandStart typing to search pages, journal posts, what we do and heritage sites.
The Chapel of Faith, built in 1886 as a mortuary chapel and the oldest building at Waikumete Cemetery, is now preserved in photorealistic 3D on Tohu Heritage.
Toroa, the last of Auckland's steam ferries, is now preserved in photorealistic 3D on Tohu Heritage. Launched in 1925 and under restoration at Henderson, she is the first vessel we have documented.
Tohu Heritage activates categories as real places are captured, not before. With Steam Ferry Toroa now live, Transport is the fifth category to open, and the first whose subject has no heritage protection at all.
Carlile House, the 1886 former Costley Training Institute and boys' home in Grey Lynn, Auckland, is now preserved in photorealistic, interactive 3D on Tohu Heritage: a Category 1 heritage building anyone can explore online.
Henderson's Waterwheel, marking the site of one of West Auckland's earliest industries, is now the third heritage site published on Tohu Heritage, captured in photorealistic 3D.
Tohu Heritage activates categories as real places are captured, not before. With Henderson's Waterwheel now live, Industrial is the third category to open.
A short introduction to Thiago Amaral, the story behind Tohu Heritage, and where the mission is headed next.
New Zealand's infrastructure sector has spent years diagnosing a data fragmentation problem. Heritage buildings have the exact same problem, and almost no one is treating it as the same conversation.
We've built a new front door for Tohu Heritage: a short, cinematic homepage that leads into the places we're documenting, not away from them.
Tohu Heritage activates categories as real places are captured, not before. With Clark House and Swan's Arch now live, Residential and Civic are the first two categories to open.
New peer-reviewed research surveyed 156 New Zealand heritage professionals about digital preservation. Here's what they found, in plain terms.
Clark House's 3D model now includes guided, clickable annotations, letting anyone explore the house's hollow ceramic block construction, ornate iron-lace verandas and curved staircase.
Swan's Arch, a hand-built Henderson landmark raised over thirty years by one man, is now the second heritage site published on Tohu Heritage.
Clark House, Hobsonville's Italianate villa built from its own owner's experimental ceramic blocks, is now live as Tohu Heritage's first published capture.
Heritage places are tohu. They are marks left in the landscape, evidence of the people and stories that shaped Aotearoa, and they can be lost to time, to neglect, and to change. Tohu exists to make those marks permanent.
Read more →02 — What We DoWe create detailed, photorealistic 3D models of heritage places that anyone can explore in a browser, on a phone, tablet, or desktop. Each model becomes a permanent, Aotearoa-hosted public record.
Read more →03 — Working in PartnershipWe do not decide which places matter. That knowledge belongs to the communities and institutions who have protected and cared for them for generations, including iwi and hapū, councils and heritage trusts.
Read more →04 — Commissioned DocumentationFor those who care for a heritage place, whether private owners, churches and trusts, or the architects and conservators who work on them, we take on commissioned documentation.
Read more →05 — Education & ResearchWe work with schools, wānanga, polytechnics, and universities to support learning in architecture, surveying, heritage conservation, and digital documentation.
Read more →06 — Supporting the WorkPublic heritage documentation is made possible by those who choose to support it. We welcome partnership with funders, trusts, sponsors, and community organisations who share the kaupapa.
Read more →07 — Get in TouchWe welcome conversations with custodians, iwi and community groups, councils, researchers, educators, funders, and anyone who believes heritage places deserve to be experienced, not just preserved.
Read more →“Every place we document today is one future generations won't have to imagine.”
Thiago Amaral, Founder of Tohu Heritage© 2026 Tohu Heritage New Zealand