Innholdsfortegnelse for #103 May-Jun 2025 i Green Magazine

WHAT IS APAISER'S COMMITMENT TO AUSTRALIAN QUALITY DESIGN? As an Australian owned, global brand, our heritage and beauty of our local landscape has been a constant source of inspiration since our inception over 20 years ago. Visionary founder, Belinda Try, had a dream to transform the bathroom from functional room to private sanctuary, bringing the natural allure of our environment into the space. The dream became a journey to develop a durable, natural material that would become the foundation of a sustainable, design-led bathware collection, and so apaiserMarble® was born. Handcrafted with meticulous attention to detail and quality, our couture-level bathware combines innovation with traditional craftsmanship. Though the brand has evolved, crafting bathware for stunning hotels, resorts and residences all over the world, to this day, each exquisite piece is…

Suspended like soft forest orbs, Nordgröna’s “Cloudberry” uses natural Reindeer Moss to deliver high-performance acoustic absorption with a playful visual edge. The moss – a cold-hardy, carpet-forming lichen found in the arctic tundra of Sweden and Norway – is responsibly hand-harvested, with up to 20 per cent collected every five to six years without endangering local flora or fauna. It’s then preserved for softness and longevity, dyed using sea salts and pigments in a 100 per cent renewable energy facility. This process keeps the moss soft, hypoallergenic, fire-resistant and maintenance-free. Alongside “Cloudberry”, Nordgröna creates a range of sculptural acoustic pieces using the same material – including “Canvas”, “Glade” and their latest addition, “Boulevard”. Thanks to this remarkable moss, the pieces are naturally dust-repellent, retain their colour over time, and meet…

In Sydney’s Botany – once the city’s industrial fringe, now home to a growing network of makers and designers – Robert Plumb Collective’s new office keeps things simple and robust. Designed as a base for the Collective’s construction, landscaping and design arms, the building brings their multi-disciplinary team together under one roof. Allied Office led the architecture, centring the design around three long volumes. The structure is direct and economical, but not without generosity – large, glazed openings draw in light, while planted edges and deep reveals soften the hard lines. Akin Atelier led the interior architecture, working alongside Second Edition, who shaped the building’s material DNA. They pulled in waste streams from across Sydney – concrete topping slabs became a reception desk, anchored by over-pour offcuts shaped by Brook…

Usually, in a profile piece such as this one I’d begin by introducing a design studio’s founders – who they are, what led them to this point in their careers, how they started their practice. But when I interview Material Cultures (MC), a London based not-for-profit design and research organisation, they ask me, if possible, not to highlight their founders. “We prefer to speak of Material Cultures as a team,” they say, “everyone’s contribution is just as valuable as our three founders.” This small request is significant in that it rethinks and actively reshapes the norms of architecture and design and, in doing so, questions the long-established hierarchies of where value is given and whose voices are prioritised. This drive to shift the status quo is central to every aspect…

Auckland’s Karanga Plaza hums with movement. On warm days, swimmers dip in and out of the harbour pool while manu bombers line the edge of the jumping platform, waiting their turn. A manu is a cannonball-style dive developed by Māori and Pasifika communities (and now a beloved kiwi pastime) where jumpers launch into the air, fold into a v-shape mid-flight, and hit the water backside first. The higher the splash, the better the dive. Equal parts sport, spectacle and neo-cultural ritual, it’s an activity shaped by presence and energy, set against the expanse of Auckland’s Waitematā Harbour. This is the backdrop for Pac Studio’s new Karanga Changing Sheds, built for the equally new harbour pool in collaboration with Auckland Council’s regeneration agency, Eke Panuku. The sheds are made from the…

Prefabricated housing has come a long way in the last decade. There are now a number of companies dedicated to offsite construction, and more architects combining this with bespoke solutions. For many, the attraction of a controlled environment and all the benefits that it brings, combined with less time and less impact on site, is compelling. In this issue we look at four architect-driven projects, both locally and in New Zealand. Also in this issue a collection of houses that vary in scale and expenditure but unite in their desire for low impact living. Whether that be in their restrained approach to renovations or their right-from-the get-go intentions to build for a low energy future. Our profile highlights a group of new wave architects in the UK who are looking…

In Chile’s Casablanca Valley, where desertification is steadily advancing, Casa Prefabricada explores how architecture can respond to environmental and material scarcity. Designed by Ignacio Rojas Hirigoyen with The Andeshouse Design, the prototype proposes a modular system that’s fast to assemble, low-waste, and adaptable across contexts – with no need for specialist labour. Its structure is raised to promote passive airflow and high-density insulation made from residual wood fibres wraps every surface floor, wall and ceiling - to reduce energy demand and reliance on mechanical systems. A detached roof, lifted from the volume, harvests ambient humidity and protects the ventilated façade. Prefabricated timber and steel panels form the building’s shell - timber chosen for its environmental performance, steel for its durability and capacity to be reused. Each panel arrives with integrated…

Printed on the world’s fastest 3D printer, Lumo forms its shell from econitWood – a bio-digital composite of sawmill leftovers and mineral binders. The geometry is tightly stacked to maximise print bed efficiency and minimise material waste. The entire system is free from plastics and fossil-based components – composed only of wood, mineral binder, cotton and wool – making it recyclable or naturally decomposable. Along the shell’s edge, a precise groove secures a removable cover made from CENTO – a 100 per cent wool textile by rohi, developed without synthetic fibres. friedrichgerlach.de / econit.info / rohi.com…

Every step in the Wool Hoop Pendant Light range supply chain stays on New Zealand’s North Island. The wool – certified regenerative and sourced from Palliser Ridge, a sheep and beef farm in the Wairarapa – is scoured in Hawke’s Bay, spun in Wellington, and knitted by a small family-run mill in Auckland. From there, it makes its way to Waiheke Island, where a team of local mums thread each shade by hand in Lof’s studio. Made from undyed Romney wool, the shade’s geometric knit filters light and casts a gentle pattern, while also softening acoustics and absorbing airborne pollutants. Each shade is threaded onto a gold electroplated steel ring, then fitted over a three-pronged plywood core, cut from FSC-certified Finnish birch. Launched in 2024 after years of testing, tweaking,…

Tower in the bush This annex to an existing family home designed by Sam Brown of Arête Architects navigates a tricky, steep site in the dense bush of Eastbourne, Wellington. A tower concept maximises space within a minimal footprint by stacking rooms, with a rooftop space an added bonus. The modules were prefabricated in a factory, prioritising efficiency and reducing waste, and then helicoptered into place to reduce impact on the site. A new waterproofing system was devised for Karaka Tower, made of macrocarpa timber framing exposed in the interior with a rigid air barrier and thermal polystyrene on top, fitted with a double TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) membrane and batten system. This creates an airtight and fully thermally broken system that is flexible and hardy as well as high performing.…

Stackable, adaptable and built to last, the Annon Chair by Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch of Dowel Jones pairs a solid American oak frame with a gently curved backrest and a cushioned upholstered seat. Its name evolved from ‘anonymous’ – a nod to its pared-back form. Designed and made to order in their Geelong factory, almost every component can be customised, with a wide range of timber paint colours and hundreds of upholstery fabrics – from wool to recycled polyester and beyond. doweljones.com…

Designed by Tasman Eco, the “Archie Cot” is made from 100 per cent recycled plastic – cut from a single panel of Australian post-consumer and post-industrial HDPE, produced by Defy Design. Made to grow with the child and built for stability, it features a fixed-side frame and converts from bassinet height to cot, then into two toddler bed configurations and finally a child-sized bed. A bold, blockish take on nursery furniture, with punchy, mottled colourways, the “Archie Cot” meets Australia’s strict safety standards and, made locally in Sydney, supports a return to local manufacturing. tasmaneco.com.au / defydesign.org…

LOCATION PALAWA COUNTRY / HOBART / TAS • When Tiff was house hunting, she was fascinated by a smallish Modernist house in Hobart’s Sandy Bay, instantly recognising from the online images that it offered something intriguing. She found building stock where she lived in northern New South Wales to be homogenous and uninteresting and here was the opportunity to purchase a home that, without heritage overlay or listing, was still a significant part of Hobart’s architectural narrative. This house is one of a few residential projects designed by Tasmanian architect and town planner Sydney Wallace Thomas (SWT) Blythe in the 1970s, very late in his career. Blythe was a senior architect in the Tasmanian Department of Public Works (c. 1934-1949), and responsible for designing nearly 60 government buildings throughout Tasmania,…

LOCATION NGUNNAWAL AND NGAMBRI COUNTRY / CANBERRA / ACT • This courtyard home in the Canberra suburb of Turner makes use of a series of sawtooth roof elements to scoop northern light into the interiors and, through an extremely insulated building envelope and a heat-recovery ventilation system, has been designed using passive house principles. These features are just part of a complete focus on sustainable design and construction in the creation of this house for a family of four and their dog. After first investigating the option of updating the existing house, which was not really possible, owners Alex and Sarah agreed to Canberra architect Ben Walker’s recommendation to build a new house, as long as it could be done sustainably. Having gone through several new builds with his dad…

LOCATION BUNDANON / DHARAWAL COUNTRY / NSW Visiting Bundanon (deep valley) for the first time, it is apparent why Arthur Boyd was so captivated by the topography of this estuarine landscape when he first visited in 1971. Every aspect of the location is striking. The new Bridge accommodation wing is formidable upon arrival, straddling the wet gully like a trellis bridge. It and the subterranean concrete art museum both designed by Kerstin Thompson Architects and completed in 2021 respond to the threat of both flood and fire. Boyd’s original weatherboard home is in the foreground, a modest former worker’s cottage, now the Mordant Library. From the Boyd Education Centre designed by Glen Murcutt in 2001 sweeping views are along Bangli (Shoalhaven River) and across to the forested hills and sandstone…