Innholdsfortegnelse for September/October 2025 i Architecture NZ

Strachan Group Architects (SGA) has designed a 24-unit apartment development in West Auckland for community housing provider Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga. The project, which began construction in August, spans two three-storey buildings and is made up of six one-bedroom and 18 two-bedroom apartments, including eight ground-floor units designed to meet Lifemark 4 Standards. Visionwest CEO Lisa Woolley says the project offers more than just a place to live – “it is a thoughtful, community-focused response to the urgent need for safe and accessible housing in West Auckland.” Each of the buildings has a distinct colour palette, inspired by the native flora of the surrounding Waitākere Ranges, and every apartment features a north-facing balcony and living space, to ensure year-round sunlight and warmth. A single-storey community facility sits at the centre of…

Over the past few years, New Zealand’s building and construction sector has been on the cusp of a significant industry-wide shift. The sector had been preparing for the mandatory measurement and reporting of carbon emissions, set out by the government and led by MBIE under the Building for Climate Change (BfCC) programme. With the building and construction sector responsible for around 20 per cent of New Zealand’s total emissions, 1 the BfCC programme was designed to play a central role in achieving our climate commitments. Its aim was to reduce whole-of-life carbon from new buildings, progressively, starting with mandatory reporting in 2025, followed by carbon caps in 2026 and increasingly stringent limits through to 2030. These measures were directly linked to Aotearoa’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement:…

A WORKING REPERTORY THEATRE IS A DYNAMIC entity with its various specialised zones operating collaboratively to mount theatrical seasons curated for an expectant public. Back in the mid-1980s, New Zealand’s Minister for the Arts paid a daytime visit to one such playhouse, Auckland’s Mercury Theatre, where he expressed surprise at its hustle and bustle. This reiterated a common misconception that company theatres come alive only at night with the staged performance. Yet, since then, these working regional theatres of Aotearoa New Zealand – with in-house administrators, directors, designers, performers, technicians and specialist craftspeople – are increasingly rare. The majority of available venues tend to lie dormant during the day unless shows are being installed with requisite technical and dress rehearsals. The Mercury abruptly closed its doors one evening in 1992,…

HOUSING EDUCATION HERITAGE “Ngāmotu House stands as a powerful symbol of cultural restoration. Through meticulous exterior refurbishment and the integration of a profound cultural narrative, this former government building reaffirms the whakapapa, local history and identity of iwi and hapū.” 06 Ngāmotu House Boon HOUSING _ ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS HOUSING _ MULTI-UNIT SMALL PROJECT INTERIOR PUBLIC “The mass timber structure continues the original grid, extruding to express the building’s tectonics on the street-facing elevations. Timber screens and balustrades _ finely detailed yet understated _ provide the only embellishment.” 15 Te Āhuru Mōwai architecture +…

COMMERCIAL HOUSING PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN PUBLIC “Westport’s visionary urban design and planning showcase remarkable bravery and positivity in tackling climate change… proving that even small and vulnerable communities can achieve big and strong visions.” 05 Cutting Our Own Track. Westport Master Plan. Isthmus…

Rendered Futures: Drawing Architecture, an exhibition of architectural drawings, staged by Auckland craft and design gallery Objectspace, was timely and thought provoking. Opportune, because, in this winter of generalised discontent, it showed some love to a profession struggling with the consequences for the construction industry of a recession that, for older architects, has surfaced (bad) memories of the early 1990s. And on point, too, in view of contemporary concerns about the implications of AI for design practice and careers, a disquiet fed by the accelerating pace of technological development and the untrammelled ambition of AI corporations. Dystopian predictions of human marginalisation abound. Are we heedlessly heading towards the point of no return? A chilling moment, perhaps, like that cinematically previewed nearly 40 years ago in the scene from 2001: A…

I AM NOT A WALKER. THOUGH I enjoy the idea of moving one limb after another and, thereby, moving through the world, the reality is a bit more laboured. And so it is that I find myself stationary, warm and comfortably ensconced in an armchair while others in the house are heading down the streets below my eyrie under a cool grey and threatening sky. I am near the farthest reaches of housing on the east side of the bowl that is Lyttelton. Below, around and above is a microcosm of our age laid out: a diorama animated with the coming and going of 21st-century life. It is such a big view, and so filled with the artefacts of our occupation, that things are compressed into a textural overlay, as…

In a nation where land and place hold deep cultural, environmental and historical meaning, architecture must rise to a wide range of tasks. The discipline is called upon to build and, in doing so, to tell stories, address regional specificities and problems, and create places that honour people and whenua. The establishment of a new School of Architecture at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin is, thus, not merely the opening of another academic institution. It is a strategically necessary and symbolically powerful move for Aotearoa New Zealand. It marks a recalibration of where and how we nurture future architects, reflecting demographic shifts as well as emerging educational and cultural needs. Gordon Holden, Foundation Head of Architecture at Griffith University, made a salient observation: “for each one million residents, there should be…

Port Ahuriri, once the industrial backyard of Napier, is taking on a new life with offices, hospitality, retail and accommodation sprouting up. Customs Quay Ahuriri takes command of this prime corner site. THE DRIVE ALONGSIDE THE HARBOUR AS YOU head into Napier and look across to Ahuriri presents a hillside enclave, with an almost painterly quality, overlooking the usual plethora of port structures, cranes, shipping containers, industrial warehouses and moored ships. For the past 12 months, I’ve been watching the silhouette of a four-level, white, sawtooth-roofed building emerge. At a couple of kilometres across the water, it appears big, or maybe not; it’s hard to judge at that distance. I made a mental note: must explore at some stage. My chance to do so came when I was asked to…

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION HOSPITALITY “The design expresses a striking duality: Te Mānia Room, clad in weathering steel, draws guests towards a bold, social heart… In contrast, the guest quarters retreat into the hillside _ quiet, cave-like forms of concrete that seem to grow from the earth, offering stillness and sanctuary.” 04 Te Mānia Stevens Lawson Architects HOUSING HOUSING _ MULTI-UNIT INTERIOR PUBLIC “Through the integration of infrastructure, storytelling and landscape, Waiaroha redefines public architecture as a whole environment and a place of understanding and celebration, honouring wai as taonga…” 08 Waiaroha – Heretaunga Water Discovery Centre Designgroup Stapleton Elliott and Wayfinder Landscape Planning & Strategy in association…

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION HERITAGE “This seaside heritage building has been thoughtfully transformed into a vibrant hospitality venue, preserving its architectural integrity while introducing new life and community purpose. A contemporary red brick extension… [offers] social spaces at ground level and new tenancies above.” 01 Sumner Post Office AW Architects HOUSING “The brief was to rebuild an earthquake-damaged house into a sustainable, high-quality home with mid-century influences. On a long, narrow site, low-slung gable forms stretch down the section, maximising sunlight, side yards and garden spaces.”  11 Low Slung Johnstone Callaghan Architects RESENE COLOUR AWARD CANTERBURY “Embracing passive design principles, the design is anchored by a recycled-brick bedroom wing at the rear of the site. A curved brick entry opens up to a warm, birch ply kitchen and living area, projecting out…

WISE WORDS TO HEED WHEN CONSIDERING the upgrade of a heritage building are “do as little as possible but as much as is necessary”. They were echoed very neatly when Cardinal John Dew briefed Jane Kelly, the architect commissioned for the upgrading of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Wellington. He said to her: “Strengthen the building, keep it simple, focus on the altar.” A succinct brief, and the resulting upgrade of the Cathedral, completed in June 2024, can be fairly assessed as meeting it. The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Sacred Heart stands in Hill Street, Thorndon, prominent for its magnificent Classical portico, lording it over the Gothic of the Parliamentary Library further down Hill Street. It is the work of architect F W Petre, sometimes known as ‘Concrete…

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION HOUSING _ ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS HOUSING _ MULTI-UNIT “Whare Ako embodies inclusiveness, landmarks the school and exudes mana, whilst achieving the practical demands of an intensively used multi-use space.” 03 Hamilton Boys’ High School Whare Ako PAUA Architects INTERIOR PLANNING AND URBAN DESIGN “This delightful whare iti is a powerful reminder of how much activation a small shelter can have… Inside on the birch ply ceiling, we are reminded of the ley lines typographically, with the ancestral narratives etched onto opposing corners of its length.” 12 Whare waka DCA Architects of Transformation PUBLIC SMALL PROJECT ENDURING HOUSING “Stepping stones and boardwalks provide the transition from the stone-walled courtyard and the ground plane to the house, which floats lightly above regenerating native plantings.” 17 Popadich House Davor Popadich Architects…

EDUCATION HERITAGE “Through thoughtful, subtle interventions, the building has been revitalised into a flexible, light-filled space that honours its heritage while providing a versatile canvas for diverse community needs.” 03 Te Mako – Naenae Community Centre Architecture HDT ENDURING PUBLIC “… the Adam Art Gallery transforms what was once a service space into something remarkable. Athfield Architects met the challenge with soaring verticals, a dramatic staircase and varied spaces offering unique vantage points.” 06 Adam Art Gallery Athfield Architects HOUSING _ ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS HOUSING _ MULTI-UNIT “Subtle red accents integrated into the architecture nod to the site’s history as a brickworks, guiding visitors through the space. At its heart, a well-positioned community space fosters connection and creates a strong sense of place.” 17 Te Ō Solari Architects HOUSING INTERIOR…