Our latest issue is out now – Creating Economy by Design – where we investigate cost strategies in residential architecture, looking at how careful design can lead to innovations – building more with less, creating smaller but more interesting spaces, making houses simple but smart – and how industrial materials might be used to create homes that are robust, […]

This innovative apartment block by Melbourne-based Breathe Architecture caters to a new type of urban community, and shows how a building can support social, fiscal and environmental dimensions. Our strategy for The Commons apartment building in Brunswick was to build more with less: to provide space and height, light and air. To give people what […]

British practice Carl Turner Architects has reimagined the terrace house on a brownfield site in Brixton. Low energy use, high density, and a flexible plan increase the building’s usability and help future-proof it for changes in occupancy. Photography Tim Crocker. The Slip House is a prototype development that offers dense, flexible urban living. Built on […]

The Z–section of the B14 townhouse in Berlin is an experiment in living. Helle Schröder, of architecture practice XTH-Berlin, designed the house with Martin Janekovic, and describes what it is like to live in. It’s early morning on what is going to be a bright October Sunday, and I’m sitting on the roof terrace with […]

Mixed-use buildings allow apartments or townhouses to be raised above the public realm, solving privacy and security needs, while offices or retail make a vibrant street edge. They also have different user groups, whose peak use is typically at different times of the day: the result is buildings that appear to have a lower occupancy […]

Herbst Architects convert two prefabs into a modern bach design. Text by Claire McCall from her book ‘Green Modern’ At first, when architects Lance and Nicky Herbst were shown the two small portable buildings their client had bought on a whim on the Trade Me website, their hearts sank. In front of them stood a pair […]

This is a book of pictures of modernist, mid-century New Zealand homes. The houses aren’t new, they’re old and lived in. Photographer Mary Gaudin and writer Matthew Arnold show us the timelessness of these simple yet elegant dwellings. They can be a little dusty, slightly worn around the edges and all have what antique dealers […]

Clustered together at the centre of the Seatoun Waterfront development in Wellington, these interlocking courtyard houses challenge the suburban archetype of detached houses on discrete sections. Nick Barratt-Boyes of Studio Pacific Architecture presents a different model for contemporary suburban life. The traditional approach to suburban development in New Zealand cities sees each house sited approximately […]

Architect Darren Jessop worked closely with the owners of this Auckland home to create the first certified Passive House in Australasia, meeting an exacting set of international standards. Our design for this four-bedroom home in east Auckland began typically enough. We had worked through three sketch design options with the client and had settled on […]

Architect Andrea Bell and interior designer Karen Ngan Kee discuss how architecture and interior design can work to create a seamless whole. When approaching a project, we don’t bring a ‘house style’. As an architect-interior designer team, each project is entirely unique. We absorb our client’s values, needs and wants. We examine the site and […]

Understanding the relationship between space and light is fundamental to designing spaces that are to be lived in. Architect Marc Lithgow shares some important insights from a recent project. With this project, we wanted to arrange space, light and materials so as to transform a project constrained by its location on-site into an open and […]

Melbourne-based architect Peter Johns demonstrates that when it comes to architecture, there are many ways to breathe new life into old bones. Why renovate? There are plenty of reasons to improve a home. Perhaps your family’s needs have changed. You may need more space or want to use your home’s spaces differently as family circumstances […]

The era in which your home was built can be an indicator of the direction your renovation will take, and also, potentially, of the issues you may encounter. Renovating villas and transitional villas — 1880s to 1920s Sturdy kauri classics, New Zealand timber villas have a central hallway with a kitchen and bathroom in the ‘lean-to’ […]

Prefabrication in factory-controlled conditions is gaining traction against traditional onsite building, particularly in New Zealand’s wet winters. This process has advantages in terms of speed, quality and cost. The Studio 19 Bach in Coromandel New Zealand was a collaborative project consisting of Dave Strachan and Marshall Cook in conjunction with 16 third year Unitec architecture students, […]

A duty of care to the environment is now built into every house plan. Dave Strachan takes a long-term view. Sustainable building involves designing a structural solution that meets desired living and occupancy needs whilst placing as light a load upon the planet as is possible. Buildings that are designed to be comfortable in all […]

The process of shaping design is always a dialogue between form and context. New Zealand architect Paul Clarke guides us through the conversation. The process of designing should be a journey – one that is enjoyable and engaging for both you and your architect. Quality design is more than simply the way that spaces relate […]

New Zealand architect Marshall Cook writes about his approach to residential architecture, how site and context affect the design, and how a house must adapt as its users move through life. In any building design project, there will be limitations to what can be achieved on the site within the allowable budget. Our challenge is […]

Smart technology can reduce home running costs and even support sustainability. David Ponting points the way. Through greater understanding of smart technologies, your home can be designed to function at lower annual running costs while providing a more sustainable and comfortable living environment. Given the accessibility of information about ‘technology based sustainability’, the first step […]