Innholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2025 i Home New Zealand

THE SYMPHONY CENTRE is a landmark $600 million urban regeneration project led by local development and project management firm, RCP, and international developer, Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad. Designed by architecture firm Woods Bagot, it is part of a major redevelopment of the Aotea arts precinct that will include the renovation of heritage-listed Bledisloe House and the activation of connecting laneways to create a dynamic urban centre. The building will sit above Te Waihorotiu Station, which forms part of the City Rail Link. “We are really excited to be involved in delivering the Symphony Centre … reimagining the Auckland skyline, and putting our mark on the future of the city for our children and our children’s children,” says RCP director, Cristean Monreal. “It will be an icon for generations to come.…

THE FAMILY-RUN business has been operating in New Zealand for three decades, and stocks one of the largest collections of furniture in the country — thoughtfully curated to enhance design possibilities in the home. Ever-evolving, the collections are sourced both locally and internationally and span everything from handcrafted pieces to those from contemporary design houses and makers. “The beauty of our collections is how diverse they are; there is something for everyone. Our latest collection is more than just new furniture — it’s a curated expression of style, sophistication, and individuality. Pieces blend contemporary design with classic craftsmanship, thoughtfully designed to individualise spaces,” says Hawthorne’s managing director Julian Frizzell. Standouts are the Islington sofa, pictured below, the perfect blend of modern elegance and ultimate comfort; the Aspect swivel chair, pictured…

IT WAS BRENDON and his team who masterminded the automation at Bunker House — the 2025 Home of the Year. So intricately has this incredibly complex system been detailed that every element goes entirely unnoticed. Incorporating underfloor heating, interior and exterior lighting, fans, louvres, the Wi-Fi and network, alarm system, and cameras, as well as an air recirculation system, locking system, and power conditioning system, it is comprehensive and ahead of its time. The house is completely intuitive, so much so that all it takes is a quick tap on an app when its occupants are heading to stay in it and the house will go into ‘warm’ mode. Louvres will open, underfloor heating and towel rails will turn on, and air will be circulated — all before anyone actually…

ONE CAN BUY real fruit ice cream next door — mixed berry, passionfruit, or banana. There are always kids around — boogie boards under arms, neon-coloured board shorts, and surf-branded everything in tow. The comings and goings of the sea here have always been so hypnotic that even back in the day a local Māori princess would sit on Lion Rock and stare, for hours, at the patterns of the sea as it crashed upon the land. There is a raw beauty here — an exuberance of greenery, dramatic cliff drops, and volcanic sand; a perfect and jagged horizon where, from time to time, the moon comes to hang above the Pacific as if from a single silver thread. Yet this beachfront is not just all Kiwiana idyll of the…

BUILT FOR BIRD-LOVING homeowners based in Wellington, where kākā are frequent visitors, this compact residence and its neighbour on the site, Te Kea, share a language of treetop connections and skilled landings. Designed as a break-out space for the homeowners’ now grown children to escape and stay away from the main dwelling, Kākā Pod feels like a joyful sanctuary despite its close proximity to neighbours. Curved and elevated on poles to dodge council drain easements and fit around existing trees, the home has surprises written into its walls. Clad in a lichen-green corrugated metal that speaks to the fern green of Te Kea, the structure appears enclosed from the outside but is cleverly designed to invite dappled sunlight and leafy views to enter its curve-edged, quirky shell. The roofline and…

There is a very refined yet easy flowing aesthetic at play here. The home was designed by a Danish-trained practitioner with a deep reverence for materiality and spatial composition who sought to harmonise modernist principles with the rugged grandeur of the surroundings. Perched strategically to capitalise on its commanding elevation, the residence maintains uninterrupted sight-lines to the ever-changing mountain landscape on one side and a wide, expansive, suburban valley on the other. The interplay of light and shadow and the shifting hues of dusk and dawn imbue the structure with a dynamic dialogue between built form and nature. While the encroachment of neighbouring developments is inevitable, the thoughtful site orientation ensures that the panoramic views remain an intrinsic element of the interior experience. Starting from an entry sequence defined by…

How did growing up in New Zealand help to shape your world view and approach to design? I’m incredibly inspired by the elements and how the sun interacts with the clouds. Having spent so much of my youth on the mountains above the clouds, I still draw inspiration from those moments. In my opinion, there is no better designer than Mother Nature, and New Zealand has some of the best nature in the world, so I feel very lucky to have grown up there! My attitude is also very Kiwi, I feel. I try to always find a way of making things work and apply some ingenuity. Your work is returning to New Zealand with Gallery Sally Dan-Cuthbert this year. Can you tell us about the pieces that will be…

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE between park and urban streetscape, this project is a collaboration between architectural designer Case Ornsby, developer Craig Pickett of designHOME, interior designers Colin Foggo and Sam Tuuta, and Studio Italia. Drawing on the tranquility of the verdant green backdrop, the exterior brings together traditional references with a refreshing modernity. Arranged in two rows and connected by a private central laneway, the form is an articulation of elegant architectural moves — weaving together elements of modernism and cuboid references, and offering a subtle nod to the Victorian terraces of Melbourne. While the building maintains traditional residential proportions within the wider streetscape, materiality and form allude to something entirely new. “We set out to create a series of dwellings where textural interplays meet an aesthetic defined by moments of…

THE COLOURS CHOSEN for this house were intentionally simple yet bold and contrasting. "This is how Vernon Brown designed his houses, and it was only fitting we kept it this way," architect and homeowner Moshin Mussa says. "It is one of the reasons we were drawn to the house. The specific colours chosen — Resene Crowshead for the exterior, and Resene Quarter Rice Cake for the joinery and interior walls — aren’t true black or white — they are shades of, with a certain depth. A splash of colour was added to the front door in Resene Poppy, and we used Resene Duck Egg Blue in the children’s bedrooms, against Resene White for the ceilings. The inspiration for these colours came from mid-century colour palettes. The house is furnished with…

THE VISITOR IS gently guided beneath the lower cube, alongside the rock, and quickly embraced by a mass of light and geometry as the entry stair is enveloped by the cuboid form. Continuing to the upper storey, the second cube opens out to embrace the landscape at the rear; a private hilltop oasis defined by sweeping architectural gestures that reach towards the greenery, casting dynamic shadows across the pool and surrounds. “To present the building as these tumbling cubes coming down the hill, that very abstract notion of the form, we needed to have a beautiful flat, flawless, pure white surface to elevate the architectural language,” director of Young+Richards+, Harriet Pilkington, explains. Specified to achieve this was the BRANZ-appraised INTEGRA Lightweight Concrete Façade System by Resene Construction Systems, which deftly…

IF THERE WAS one trend in this Home of the Year tour, it was a marked increase in the number of amazing houses being built on sites that, some years back, would have been deemed too hard, too inaccessible, or entirely too tangled by resource consent’s double-sided red tape. Among them, this was one of the most complex. The site sits on what is perhaps the most well-known U-turning spot on that perennial quest for a parking space along The Strand at Waiheke Island’s Onetangi. “Yes, this is probably the busiest place on the entire beach,” says Lance Herbst, of Herbst Architects, pointing at what surrounds it: “Public barbecue, public toilet, busy beach, busy road.” So, why bother? More than 15 years ago, a couple from Europe came to New…

ARCHITECTURE IS A game of constraints. As Frank Lloyd Wright so poetically put it, “The human race built most nobly when limitations were greatest.” Set parameters often prompt creative thinking, but this large, flat, rural section just outside Whangārei had few geophysical confines. There were no neighbours to screen, and no real focal drawcards. The clients — positively engaged and endlessly patient — were gems. Did Sam Atcheson of Dorrington Atcheson Architects find all this freedom tricky? He shrugs. “There was no right or wrong way to design the house but there was an obvious entry, so I used it as a starting point,” he explains. The 287-square-metre home slices red against a green backdrop. Clad in tawny brick, it’s a somewhat surprising intervention in the countryside. Owners Paula Harold…

ON A GREY LYNN street lined with villas and bungalows, there is little indication that anything here is a departure from the local vernacular — aside from a slightly protruding gabled form wrapped in vertical timber. Albeit small, it piques interest, and, from the moment the front door opens, it’s clear this is a space of drama and light. Jose Gutierrez’s client had owned the villa for a long time before embarking on this ambitious project. Her aim, Jose says, was to create a piece of architecture to admire — art to be enjoyed from within. It makes sense. There is no view from the site, the neighbours are close, and the topography is flat. So, when it came to conceptualising a design to meet his client’s aims, Jose envisioned…

“This is a tough gig!” is how one of the judges reacted to the task of selecting the top New Zealand residential architecture project of the past 10 years. From a list of 30 finalists, each of the judges — Charles Walker, Kate Rogan, Clare Chapman, and Federico Monsalve — was asked to independently select their top three to five contenders. Aside from a couple of wild cards, there was a fairly clear predilection for these shortlisted projects and the winning entry. It was indeed a tough gig, but it was also thoroughly rewarding and a testament to the creative prowess that exists in our small islands floating in the Pacific. #3 House Studio2 Architects Besides the large gestures — the cantilevers and foldable timber screens, the gallery walkway, and…

PERHAPS AN EXCLUSIVE retreat, a private home, or a getaway for groups, this captivating concept is the vision of Roberts Gray Architects — it is an overtly contemporary overture toan internationalism rarely seen in New Zealand coastal settings. Devised for a vast 53-hectare site at Mataka Station in the Bay of Islands, of which the building site size covers 5000 square metres, and which is currently for sale through Future Isles, the concept was designed to articulate the possibilities and ultimate design freedom a site like this presents. “We were asked to develop a speculative scheme for the site, a vision for what could be here,” architect Nick Roberts explains. “It’s high up above the coastline but it also has proximity and private access to the beaches. “You almost feel…

WHEN INTERIOR DESIGNER Kate Carter’s clients purchased a family home in Merivale, Christchurch, it was with the intention of embarking on an ambitious renovation project incorporating a complete recladding, transforming the plaster exterior into a contemporary cedar façade, and a significant redesign of the interior. Kate had worked with the clients on a previous project, and there was a level of trust between them that led to a highly creative and perfectly executed concept, rendering the house unrecognisable from its original state. “The clients had a good idea of what they wanted to achieve with the interior — a calming, neutral palette of natural materials, incorporating warm timber accents and textural layers,” Kate explains. The kitchen is the focal point of the home, with natural stone at its heart. “With…

AS A GRADUATE, Sara’s first foray into the arts was as a photographer. After spending time teaching art, followed by four years based in London, it was the return home to Auckland that prompted Sara to focus solely on painting. “When we moved into our home, which overlooked Mt Wellington, I saw the collective maunga in a different light and fell in love with their significance but also their individual beauty. My family has a long history living in Auckland. Its landscape and landmarks have been part of my everyday experience since childhood: picnics in Cornwall Park, climbing One Tree Hill, driving up Mt Eden as a teenager, exploring the tunnels at North Head, wedding photos on Mt Victoria. These are the landmarks of home.” It was this connection that…

Schindler Space Architect This feature-length film explores the life and works of Austrian-born R.M. Schindler, a pioneer of modern architecture. The documentary explores Schindler’s richly complex work, with its influences from turn of the 20th century Vienna, the early work of Frank Lloyd Wright, the pueblos of Taos, and the 20th century realities of Southern California. It is an investigation into Schindler’s philosophy of ‘space architecture’, as contrasted with the International Style that ruled modern architecture during most of his life. The film re-examines Schindler’s complicated relationship with his mentor, Frank Lloyd Wright, and his rival, Richard Neutra, following Schindler’s journey from Vienna to Chicago and onto Los Angeles. Featured in the film are the exteriors and interiors of many buildings designed by Schindler, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Richard Neutra.…

QUEENSTOWN HAS LONG been known as a playground for lovers of winter and summer sports alike, as a land of extremes, and as an internationally renowned area of outstanding natural beauty. For brothers Drew and Josh Atkins — a quantity surveyor and a builder, respectively — Queenstown is not only home but also where they want to leave their mark, albeit an environmentally friendly one. “Midnight Tui Compound is very much Drew and Josh’s vision,” says architect Siân Taylor of Team Green Architects. “They were really focused on, and passionate about, the way they wanted to build and about creating something that was driven by Passive House principles, while also being really cost-effective. “When they approached us to join them on their journey, they had already purchased a site. Like…

Tucked away behind a busy beach strip in St Heliers, Auckland, on a quiet, unassuming street, this house reveals itself to its neighbours as two simple white cubes, seemingly cascading down the hill to come to rest on a stone plinth. “Conceptually, the house is an architectural exploration into a series of dichotomies between which lived experience is celebrated through spatial sensation. Subtle cues invite you to one side of the stone plinth, a stepped path then guides you as if exploring a dry ravine. Entry is made on the oblique, gently slipping you into the heart of the home,” explain architects Harriet Pilkington and Elvon Young. “Sculpted as a device for capturing and experiencing light, the geometry is still but transformational, anchored but active, structured but organic — experiential…

LOCATED IN WHITFORD on the outskirts of Auckland, this home was completed in 2019 and offers an enduring take on multigenerational living, with a series of interconnected spaces that meet and segregate as necessary. Overlooking a sweeping valley of verdant green grasses and the Waitematā beyond, the house reaches out to the vista at every opportunity. Full-height glazing, well-placed courtyards, and the layering of the form as it falls towards the sea ensure sight-lines are maximised so that no pavilion takes away from the views of another. Designed to house three generations, accommodating different family groups, the home alludes to a remarkable level of versatility. “Pavilions are both linked and separated by courtyards as well as by a cloistered walkway that leads from the main home to a second double-storeyed…