Character Studies: NZIA Gold Medal lecture tour

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Dates have been announced for this year's nationwide NZIA Gold Medal lectures. Presenting 'Character studies', renowned design duo Nicholas Stevens and Gary Lawson, speak on the places, people and histories woven into their architecture, and the design approach they have developed over 20 years in partnership at Stevens Lawson Architects

Known for their humanist architecture, Nicholas Stevens and Gary Lawson are the first pair to receive the Gold Medal award since 2001. The award recognises their ability to create buildings with an innate sensitivity to how people live, experience and move in the world, and that reflect both the culture and landscape of contemporary Aotearoa New Zealand and their civic-minded philosophy when it comes to architecture.

As the Gold Medal jury said when bestowing the award in February 2023, Stevens Lawson Architects’ projects have a quality of ‘home’ about them, of comfort as well as beauty, of places to be welcomed and to belong. Their commercial, public and residential buildings sit gently and timelessly in their landscapes, as if they were always meant to be there, and always will be.

Nicholas and Gary joined forces in 2002. The result of their collaboration is 80 bespoke houses, civic and public buildings, and more than 20 multi-residential projects to date. One of their best-known projects is HomeGround, the supportive housing project for Auckland City Mission – Te Tāpui Atawhai.

Gary Lawson on stage during the WAF Super Jury crit of Chapel of St. Peter. Image: Supplied

The Spinoff described it as “a gorgeous building that puts the architecture of the apartments in the hundred metres surrounding it, direction regardless, in a harsh light. It feels modern, it feels futuristic, and it feels oddly inviting.”

The Gold Medal judges cited it as a model of care-informed architecture. It’s also a model of technical innovation: the tallest structural timber building in Aotearoa, and the product of meticulously considered sustainability principles.

The Institute has recognised Stevens Lawson Architects work with 25 national and 24 regional awards over the years, as well as the New Zealand Architecture Medal, the Supreme Award and the 2022 John Scott Award for Public Architecture. They were awarded a category win and highly commended at the 2022 World Architecture Festival for the Chapel of St. Peter and HomeGround.

All Gold Medal lectures are free to attend and tickets can be reserved here.
All lectures begin at 4.00pm.