In 2004 the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC) published a set of "Guidelines on Pacific health research". The Guidelines were an attempt to articulate the features of ethical research relationships with Pacific peoples living in Aotearoa New Zealand. This article describes the process of developing these guidelines, using Pacific knowledge paradigms and concepts as a starting point. Central to the discussion are two spatial metaphors, the Pacific concept of "Va" and Smith, Hudson, et al.'s (2008) contemporary concept of the negotiated space. It is asserted that via a conceptual negotiated space, traditional Pacific indigenous ethics were explored and respected in the development of the Guidelines. However, this was balanced with the desire for worldview expansion, knowledge innovation and the development of new philosophies, which required drawing from other knowledge paradigms. The process of deliberating, negotiating and, to some extent, integrating and synthesising values and ideas from different knowledge paradigms characterise the Guidelines as not only a project of restoration but also a project of transformation.