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  • House with port views

    Kerr Ritchie Architects designed this home for a ceramicist and her family on a precipitous Dunedin site. Simple forms and practical materials connect with the port and harbour, while elegant proportions provide beauty and grace. Text Bronwen Kerr and Pete Ritchie Photography Paul McCredie. This Dunedin home for a couple and their young daughter occupies […]
  • A concrete block townhouse graces the city edge

    This concrete block townhouse shows how one couple successfully made the move from the suburbs to the city in one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing centres. They, and the architect Adam Mercer, offer their views on this social yet private building. Text Andrea Stevens, Photography Simon Devitt. Defying the New Zealand dream of retreating to the coast […]
  • Building sustainably might one day be compulsory

    Joseph Hampton of Warren and Mahoney discusses sustainability in house construction, and how to reduce impact on the environment both during the build and for a lifetime. Residential architecture has delivered many sublime moments of spatial mastery to humankind, yet it can also be responsible for altering the natural landscape and sprawling into the green fields […]
  • Skylight House by Chenchow Little Architects

    Sydney architects Chenchow Little explain how they converted an introverted Victorian terrace in Sydney into a breezy and connected house design, using careful planning and innovative devices to bring space and light into a difficult site. Text Tony Chenchow and Stephanie Little. Photography John Gollings and Katherine Lu. The Skylight House is located on 120 […]
  • Country house by David Wingate

    Local farm buildings inspired the form and aesthetic of this house; long pitched roofs break down its scale and allow it to reach into the landscape. Photography Simon Devitt. Our brief was to design a practical family home that could accommodate visiting adult children, spouses and grandchildren. Our clients, Ken and Helen, had been living […]
  • Concrete house design by Jeremy Smith

    Nelson architect Jeremy Smith writes about transforming a commercial construction system into a cost-efficient, robust and poetic family home. Text Jeremy Smith. Photography Patrick Reynolds. Architecture to us is about questions. What is important? Who needs what? What makes it sing? Questions allow us to break a project down into key elements and make each […]
  • B+B House by Studio MK27 and Galeria Arquitetos

    The B+B House has a sense of the monumental, a feature of Brazilian modernism with its open, poetic and optimistic character. Clean, cubist forms are influenced by local construction technology, but also by the climate and way of life. Raw concrete allows abstract modelled forms, while its passive cooling potential moderates the climate. Photos Fernando Guerra […]
  • Houses in the landscape

    Houses that reflect physical or poetic qualities of a place become more powerful and memorable. Here are three ‘buildings in the landscape’ that respond to the uniqueness of their environment. Photos Simon Devitt. Lake House by Stevens Lawson Architects On the edge of a South Island lake, the folding forms of this architecturally-designed house camouflages […]
  • Designing houses for the cold by Kerr Ritchie

    Architectural practice kerr ritchie  explain their approach to integrating comfort and seasonal warmth into two South Island houses. Living and designing in the south of New Zealand brings rewards and challenges. Perhaps the most significant factor is that we have very distinct seasons. Summers can be very hot whilst winters can feel prolonged and drawn […]
  • Courtyard house by Glamuzina Paterson Architects

    The chiselled form of this courtyard house echoes a landscape of extremes. Architect Dominic Glamuzina discusses the need to address the cold, and embrace the warmth, of Central Otago. Text Dominic Glamuzina. Photography Patrick Reynolds and Sam Hartnett. Working to a thoughtful brief and rigorous budget, Aaron Paterson and I looked at old building practices […]
  • Slip House London by Carl Turner Architects

    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 Gogo Bach from ‘Green Modern’ by Claire McCall

    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 […]
  • The elements of Passive Design by Darren Jessop

    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 […]
  • Integrating architecture and interior design by Bossley Architects

    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 […]
  • We shape our dwellings — then our dwellings shape us

    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 […]
  • Design for the future

    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 […]
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