March-April 2024

Architecture NZ

Architecture New Zealand is the journal for New Zealand’s architects

Architecture NZ1 min read
On The Cover
PUBLISHER Nathan Inkpen EDITOR Chris Barton DEPUTY EDITOR/INTERIOR EDITOR Amanda Harkness ART & PRODUCTION DIRECTOR André Kini ADVERTISING SALES Mark Lipman – mark.lipman@agm.co.nz ADMINISTRATION office@agm.co.nz CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER ANZ Ashleigh
Architecture NZ4 min readIntelligence (AI) & Semantics
In The Mind’s Eye
THE ARCHITECT AS MAGICIAN: LIKE many, I was captivated by Junya Ishigami’s presentation at this year’s in:situ conference – a virtuoso display with gravity-defying tricks, such as his impossibly thin (12mm) steel roof sagging across a 90m span to cre
Architecture NZ5 min read
Trees
WHAT IS IT ABOUT TREES? They seem to be about as divisive as the current coalition government’s views on Te Tiriti. As with most things these days, we are all on a spectrum, and our attitude to these gentle, mute behemoths is no exception. At one end
Architecture NZ4 min read
Habits Of Mind
KIA ORA READER. The working year of 2024 is under way and I know this because, in very Tāmaki Makaurau fashion, the traffic is straight from the devil’s email. Another year, another infuriating stretch of cars where one can only dream of having relia
Architecture NZ2 min read
City-shaping
A global consortium made headlines recently with the release of the HKS design for a proposed downtown stadium and urban neighbourhood precinct in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. The consortium’s vision for Te Tōangaroa (Quay Park) includes a 50,000-seat,
Architecture NZ1 min read
Wallé Mark II Set To Take Shape
Irving Smith Architects continues to further new generations of timber structural buildings with its latest project in Whakatū Nelson’s central CBD – a 2000m2 mixed retail and office space development set across three levels on an enclosed 900m2 site
Architecture NZ1 min read
Housing Summit 2024
The New Zealand Green Building Council Housing Summit will take place on Wednesday 22 May at the Aotea Centre, Auckland. The programme of speakers and case studies is focused on industry developments, including ESG, build-to-rent, and creating thrivi
Architecture NZ1 min read
Discover Ōtautahi Through Its Architecture
Open Christchurch, the ‘annual festival of architectural excellence’, returns in early May with a bumper programme prepared by Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making. Fifty of Christchurch’s best buildings will be open for exploration, alo
Architecture NZ1 min read
Interior Awards New Category
This year sees the introduction of a new Education category to the Interior Awards, in order to recognise schools, universities (including halls of residence), child and daycare centres, and other learning facilities. “Previously, education projects
Architecture NZ4 min read
The Grand Design Down Under
‘Grand’ reveals a certain distance from its content, confirming design as an elite activity and, while it is thought to be generally about ‘architecture’, the word doesn’t appear in the title, although used regularly during the show. It apparently be
Architecture NZ2 min read
Material Focus: Waka Kotahi Nzta
Tell us about the design rationale for this project. DGSE worked alongside Waka Kotahi to distil their aspirations around consolidation, environmental outcomes, social sustainability and sense of place. Pivotal to this was the shift to an ‘activity-b
Architecture NZ3 min read
Chantal Gaiqui
What led you into the world of architecture and design? Prior to settling on interior design, I started out as a performance pianist, studying BMus in Performance at Auckland Uni. I was also part-time modelling and acting at the time, and I took a fe
Architecture NZ3 min read
Weaving A Conduit For Environmental Knowledge
Common Ground emerged as a response to a visceral feeling of concern for our world, advocating for heightened care towards the land, its people and the future. Rooted in circumstances devoid of due care – land management in Tairāwhiti – the research
Architecture NZ8 min read
Te Taura Whakairo: The Continuing Tradition
It is a great and unexpected honour to receive the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Gold Medal. It places me within a whakapapa of architects whom I have always greatly admired and provides a platform from which to communicate a
Architecture NZ2 min read
Geometric Surprise
Architects’ own homes are special, revealing as much about what inspires them as their willingness to experiment. In Henri Sayes’ most recent abode, there’s some homage to Aalto’s Maison Louis Carré on the outskirts of Paris (1956), where a sinuous,
Architecture NZ7 min read
Towards An Old Architecture
NEW ZEALAND IS A SMALL COUNTRY WITH few architects. Where Britain has 42,170 registered architects in a population of 67 million, or one per 1600 persons, New Zealand has rather fewer, with one architect per 2200 persons.1 Yet, only 68 or three per c
Architecture NZ2 min read
Project Information
LOCATION Gate 8, University of Waikato Hamilton campus SITE AREA 14,600m2 FLOOR AREA 7100m2 STOREYS Three to six levels TIME SCHEDULE Design, documentation: 30 months Construction: 30 months CLIENT Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato University of Waikato ARC
Architecture NZ7 min read
Culture And Collegiality
TE RANGIHĪROA IS THE FIRST PURPOSE-BUILT college at New Zealand’s most collegiate university since the Ted McCoy-designed UniCol opened in 1969. If its novelty makes it notable, its size makes it significant. The $104-million building, more than 14,0
Architecture NZ1 min read
Project Information
LOCATION Forth Street, Dunedin SITE AREA 8800m2 FLOOR AREA 14,500m2 STOREYS Six TIME SCHEDULE Design, documentation: 20 months Construction: 30 months CLIENT University of Otago ARCHITECT Jasmax PROJECT TEAM Matthew Downs, Chris Scott, Chris Boss, Ro
Architecture NZ5 min read
Home On The Lease
HOUSE-BUILDING ISN’T NEW, YET SOMEHOW there still seems a whole lot to trailblaze. Before you even queue for a builder, or eye up an estimate, there’s the start-up cost of land. For, while sites have been suburbanising into parcels, land values have
Architecture NZ1 min read
Project Information
LOCATION Todds Valley, Nelson SITE AREA 2.7ha FLOOR AREA 42m2 STOREYS Two TIME SCHEDULE Design, documentation: Six months Construction: 18 months CLIENT William Samuels and Hannah D’Arcy ARCHITECT William Samuels Architects PROJECT TEAM William Samue
Architecture NZ4 min read
Masters Of Manipulation
THE FIRST TIME I VISITED PRECINCT Properties on the 12th floor of the HSBC building was about four years ago, ahead of a scheduled walkaround of the new Commercial Bay building the day before its official opening. A throng of media jostled through an
Architecture NZ1 min read
Project Information
LOCATION 188 Quay Street, Auckland FLOOR AREA 1350m2 STOREYS One TIME SCHEDULE Design: Nine months Construction: Six months CLIENT Precinct Properties NZ ARCHITECT Warren and Mahoney Architects PROJECT TEAM Scott Compton, Daniel Kempka, Bella McMahon
Architecture NZ9 min read
Heritage Conservation Stories Of Our Era
Sometimes, it seems that demolitions have a more vivid place in people’s memories than do heritage conservation success stories. Everyone remembers Aniwaniwa. Today, government policy and legislation are providing huge challenges for heritage. The Na
Architecture NZ2 min read
A Long Bay Farewell
AFTER ALMOST 15 YEARS IN BUSINESS, husband and wife team Adam and Michelle Leonard moved to the South Island with their young family for new adventures and careers. Their last Auckland project – an eye-catching North Shore home – is an outstanding te
Architecture NZ9 min read
Crit/Book
Architectural Conservation in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands: National Experiences and Practice John H. Stubbs, William Chapman, Julia Gatley and Ross King Routledge, 2024 This book is the latest in the Time Honored Architectural Cons

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