Puke Ariki, the world's first purpose-built fully-integrated library and museum, is making great progress with the construction both on time and within budget.

"I'm very happy with how well the construction is going," says Puke Ariki manager Suzanne Porter. "The construction firms are doing a great job and the north wing, nearest the sea, seems to have grown each time I look at it.

"We're on track for both the north and south wings to be completed by this August, and for the fitout to be completed by the middle of next year – soon after which Puke Ariki will be opened to the public."

The Puke Ariki management team are currently working on landscape designs for the heritage garden around Richmond Cottage; and the designs for exhibitions within Puke Ariki are well advanced with gallery styles, stories, images and objects being refined in consultation with Puke Ariki's partners.

"As well as substantial funding, these partners – the New Zealand Government, Lotteries Grants Board, Taranaki Regional Council, TSB Community Trust, Taranaki Electricity Trust, Shell (Petroleum Mining), Westgate Transport, Taranaki Newspapers and Methanex NZ – are contributing content, expertise and equipment which will enable the exhibits to be that much more special and interactive," says Suzanne.

Meanwhile staff are working on a variety of projects for Puke Ariki, such as improving the accessibility of archives and collections, the SOS (Support Our Stories) programme which calls for information and items of interest to be donated by the community, and the IT component which will enable people throughout the region and the world to access Puke Ariki via the Internet.

"These are very busy days, but it's exciting to see the plans for Puke Ariki take shape and to know that, in little more than a year's time, a world-first facility that will excite the public will open its doors in the middle of New Plymouth," says Suzanne.