Forget flashy houses and buildings. Most of this year’s Wellington winners in this year’s Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA Wellington awards emphasize simplicity, both in form and material.
As architecture+ jury chair Belinda Tuohy says, “There was a sense of genuine pride mixed with humility in many of the projects. Architects in the housing category have been particularly strong in showing restraint in their projects while achieving high standards”.
The peer-reviewed award jury described the projects as confirmation that architecture is thriving in the metropolitan region.
simon wilson
Kahutara House in the Wairarapa, by Patchwork Architecture, is one of seven Housing Award winners at the Wellington NZIA Architecture Awards.
Seven projects received Housing Awards and Patchwork Architecture’s Kahutara House is a prime example of the back-to-basics simplicity that defines so much architecture today. The house reflects the rural buildings in the Wairarapa field in which it resides, and references the other corrugated iron structures in the area that are synonymous with rural Aotearoa.
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The jury said the house also exudes a sense of ease and tranquility, making it far beyond a simple shed.
simon wilson
Natural wood occurs both indoors and outdoors in the Kahutara house.
Simplicity was also key to the success of Sparrow House by John Mills Architects. A modest square floor plan is mirrored around a true Palladian-style central kitchen to create a full kaleidoscope of bay windows. Built-in seating and covered decks extend outward from the center to extend the entire perimeter of the building.
Housing – Alterations and additions winners are Carrington Cottage, the 1900s conversion of a workers’ cottage by aka Architecture. The jury said the cottage’s unchanged appearance belies the transformation inside.
“The volume with the narrow gabled facade has been fully utilized, creating a series of finely tuned spaces. A high volume above the living room, kitchen and dining room continues to a cavernous sleeping platform tucked away under the roof.
Connecting the spaces is the shape of the gabled roof, refined into a skin of smooth layer panels, pierced only by a generous skylight that allows the wood to glow. The volumes are knitted together, Tetris-esque with careful minimal detailing and a sparse palette of colors and materials to successfully enhance spaces.”
Brandon House by Studio of Pacific Architecture, a 1960s building originally slated for demolition, won its only Commercial Award this year. The building was completely stripped down to its concrete structure and redeveloped as boutique office space.
A three-storey addition in a wooden structure was added, along with a new bronze curtain wall.
Other winners include The Cricket Museum Stand Restrengthening by Shand Shelton, a winner in the Heritage category, and Whitby Collegiate Classroom Pavilion by Andrew Sexton Architecture, which received a win in the Education category.
Te Rau Karamu Marae of Athfield Architects and Te Kāhui Toi, Massey University in collaboration, was awarded an Education Award. The jury noted the impeccable detail on the whakairo and tukutuku panels in the marae. Each panel represents a different tree species and shows the associated bird and insect life.
RUSSELL KLEYN
Te Rau Karamu Marae by Athfield Architects and Te KÄ hui Toi, Massey University in association is another NZIA Wellington Education Award winner.
Jeff McKewn
Te Rau Karamu Marae by Athfield Architects and Te KÄ hui Toi, Massey University in collaboration.
“The marae can accommodate guests at night and facilitate various types of teaching and learning, while also providing a place for retreat and rejuvenation,” the jury noted.
“It recognizes multiple connections and interfaces with surrounding campus buildings and the wider district. The atea opens out to the surrounding college courtyards and streets and maintains its own mana without physical barriers through the use of patterned paving, planting and the carved waharoa.
The full list of winners is as follows:
housing
PAUL McCREDIE
Sparrow House by John Mills Architects has won a NZIA Wellington Housing Award.
PAUL McCREDIE
The jury praised the Sparrow House as “deceptively simple – a house that adapts perfectly to its environment”.
- Buckley Road House by First Light Studio
- Sparrow House by John Mills Architects
- Beach Forest House by Makers of Architecture
- Hinau Street House + Apartment by Parsonson Architects
- Kahutara House by Patchwork Architecture
- Matipo House by Studio of Pacific Architecture
- Gable House by Three Line Studio
SIMON DEVITT
Matipo House by Studio of Pacific Architecture teams board-formed concrete walls with wood.
Housing – Changes and additions
- Carrington Cottage by aka Architecture
- Keith+Brown House by Judi Keith-Brown Architect
- MJ Residence by Seear-Budd Ross
Anne Kelly
This 1900s working class cottage has been extensively renovated by aka Architecture and has won a Housing – Alterations and Additions Award.
Enclosure – Multiple Units
- Chappell Mansions by Bonnifait + Giesen Architects
- Sunset West Apartments by Designgroup Stapleton Elliott
- Party Wall of Patchwork Architecture
Interior design
- Apartment C by Andrew Sexton Architecture
- Te Rau Karamu Marae by Athfield Architects and Te Kāhui Toi, Massey University in association
- Warren and Mahoney Wellington Studio by Warren and Mahoney Architects
Commercial Architecture
- Brandon House by Studio of Pacific Architecture
Thomas Seear-Budd
Whitby Collegiate East Corner by Andrew Sexton Architecture has won a NZIA Wellington Education Award.
Education
- Whitby Collegiate Classroom Pavilion by Andrew Sexton Architecture
- Te Rau Karamu Marae by Athfield Architects and Te Kāhui Toi, Massey University in association
Heritage
- Cricket Museum Stand Reinforcement by Shand Shelton
Planning and urban planning
- Ōmarukaikuru by Isthmus Group
Architecture for small projects
- Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – The Māori Language Commission by RCG
- Te Papa Surreal Art: He Toi Pohewa by Warren and Mahoney Architects
Resene Color Award
- Hinau Street House + Apartment by Parsonson Architects
- Sunset West Apartments by Designgroup Stapleton Elliott
- Party Wall of Patchwork Architecture
- Te Rau Karamu Marae by Athfield Architects and Te Kāhui Toi, Massey University in association
- Te Papa Surreal Art: He Toi Pohewa by Warren and Mahoney Architects