Whena Rikihana, shows his fellow co-founders, Johnnie Saunders and Esekia Faiga, his latest project at their new architectural design company Pou Architecture.

A love of gaming got him into a 3D animation diploma in 2006 but now in 2022, and three career moves later, that same qualification has helped set up Whena Rikihana as a director of Kāpiti's newest architectural design company Pou Architecture.

In the early 2000s, after Whena returned home to Ōtaki from his OE, he thought the diploma at Te Wānanga o Raukawa looked like a good way to get into the fast-growing gaming industry he loved.

He signed up and thrived on the course but after qualifying decided that a desk job was not for him and moved into construction.

Completing an apprenticeship through the Building and Construction Industry Training Organisation, he worked as a qualified builder for nearly 15 years, with a three-year stint at Kāpiti District Council in the middle, including time as a building consents officer.

"I love building, especially if you have a good crew as it makes even the bad jobs good.

"But an old injury started creeping up, I'm not getting any younger, and it was time to get off the tools.

"I've always been interested in tech but I don't enjoy being limited and clerical office jobs were not the thing for me and I thought building design could be good.

"There's a lot of satisfaction in thinking up solutions to problems around people's biggest asset — their home — and then using tech to create those solutions."

At 44 years old, and with a family to help support, Whena last year left the security of a job he knew and enjoyed for the unknowns of fulltime study at the Universal College of Learning in Palmerston North, working towards his third tertiary qualification — an architectural technician diploma.

Whena was surprised to find the building industry software, Revit, he trained on had a similar interface to the software he used at the wānanga on his animation diploma all those years ago.

"It helped give me a really good transition into my studies."

Now, with his diploma close to completion, Whena is nervous and excited about the future.

He last month launched Paraparaumu-based Pou Architecture alongside his two co-founders – his former boss Johnnie Saunders of Kāpiti construction company NZ Proud and architectural designer Esekia Faiga.

Johnnie said having a former builder on the drafting computer gave the firm a massive advantage.

"You just don't get that experience or expertise anywhere else, it's such an asset."

It's been many years since Whena's diploma at Te Wānanga o Raukawa but the knowledge he gained there and the curiosity for learning it inspired have taken him far.