The local Canterbury Architecture Awards, led by the Canterbury chapter of the New Zealand Institute of Architects, honoured 28 projects on 6 June during an event at the Christchurch Town Hall.

The convenor of the award’s jury was Christchurch-based architect Andrew Watson. He noted of the winners, “It’s been an impressive year for buildings with important social roles to play. From Christchurch’s new library and the heritage Arts Centre, through smaller libraries and community buildings in Dunsandel, Leeston and Woolston, it has been inspiring to visit buildings so successfully designed around the needs of people and well-integrated into their communities.”

Watson was joined on the judging panel by Auckland architect Jessica Barter, Christchurch architect Hamish Shaw, and Luke Porter, a Christchurch-based landscape architect.

Winners: Housing

Red Rock House by Borrmeister Architects

The jury sad this home was “bound to place through clever design, impeccable materiality and appropriate scale”.

Thornycroft Street, Fendalton by C Nott Architects

This home is “cleverly broken down into bite-sized pieces – the landscape, critical to success, weaves in and out of courtyards, flowing from street to stream boundary,” the jury said.

Governors Bay House by First Light Studio 

This house earned it’s award with its gabled form and strong relationship with the landscape, the NZIA reported. 

Cashmere House by JHA

“From ‘tree house’ mezzanine through to the phone-booth nook, the interior is a child-focused delight – practical, durable and charming,” the jury said. 

Clyde Rd House by Sheppard & Rout Architects

Showing that good things can come in large packages, the jury lauded this project as a “palatial pad”.

141 Peterborough Street by Three Sixty Architecture

The jury praised this project as a “handsome solution to central city residential intensification”.

Desmond House by Warren and Mahoney Architects

This “large family home, with a strongly geometric, low-slung form, sits like a shadow on the Merivale riverbank,” the jury said.

Winners: Housing – Alterations and Additions 

Menzies POP! by Architects’ Creative

The jury commended this project that they described as, “Laden with slick details and a rich material palette.” They said the 1940s house was “transformed well beyond its former glory”.

Abberley Crescent House by RTA Studio

This black-steel-clad extension “fairly barrels along almost the entire length of the southern boundary of a long narrow site,” the jury said. “It is an exciting piece of work, set against a recycled brick wall that brings warmth and a sense of history to the slick new addition.”

Winners: Housing – Multi Unit

Chen Anselmi Units by Bull O’Sullivan Architecture

This project is “small but perfectly formed – it throws down the gauntlet for suburban multi-unit living”, the jury said.

Madras Street by Coll Architecture

The architects created these two homes that are “simple and compact, yet still packing a punch,” said the jury. 

One Central by Warren and Mahoney Architects

These are “rigorously designed terrace houses in Christchurch’s residential East Frame that raise the bar for quality medium-density residential architecture in the city,” according to the jury.

Winners: Commercial Architecture

Billens Building by A E Architects

A replacement for a 1906 building that “suffered earthquake damage in the 2011 ‘shakes’ before being finished off by arson in 2012”, the jury commented: “Critical to the building’s success is the interweaving back into the urban fabric, achieved by making a big nod to the past while embracing the future through materials that respond to the realities of building in an earthquake zone.” 

Awly Building by Warren and Mahoney Architects

The jury described this building as “a distinct yet contextual piece of city making with an architectural ‘fitness’ that all buildings should strive for”.

Waterfront House by Athfield Architects

The Lyttelton Port building “blends offices with staff common areas with a generosity akin to civic space”, the jury said

Winners: Education

Two University of Canterbury buildings won both Education and Interior Architecture awards this year. Watson said, “Together, they show how tertiary education environments are becoming collaborative, technologically sophisticated environments where learning can take place seemingly anywhere.”

The Ernest Rutherford Building, University of Canterbury by Jasmax, DJRD Architects and Royal Associates Architects

University of Canterbury, Rehua by Athfield Architects

Winners: Heritage

Rose Historic Chapel by Dave Pearson Architects

This project restored a building that was earthquake-damaged in an “inspirational” way, the jury noted. It was awarded in the Heritage category for the “passionate commitment by Pearson Architects and the contractor to rebuild an important piece of Christchurch heritage”. 

The Arts Centre of Christchurch: DA and CE Buildings by Warren and Mahoney Architects

The high quality restoration of these buildings has won Warren and Mahoney Architects awards in the Heritage and Public Architecture categories.

Winner: Enduring Architecture

Messervy House (1964) by Alan Mitchener, Architect

“At the end of a quiet cul-de-sac, in a pocket of what must be the city’s highest concentration of homes in the Christchurch Style, Allan Mitchener’s 1964 design stands apart. Messervy House is highly imaginative and full of surprises and bespoke details,” the jury noted.

Winners: Interior Architecture

Tūranga by Architectus and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects

The jury commended this building, saying, “Its connectivity – with people, place and culture – is exemplified by the staggered atrium and incredible staircase, which is a social space for gathering, reading and resting.”

Waterfront House by Athfield Architects 

University of Canterbury, Rehua by Athfield Architects

The Ernest Rutherford Building, University of Canterbury by Jasmax, DJRD Architects and Royal Associates Architects

Winner: Planning and Urban Design

The Terrace by Jasmax & NH Architects (Roger Nelson)

The jury said that this project was a “world-class network of character laneways and sophisticated buildings”.

Winners: Public Architecture

Oxford Terrace Baptist Church by Andrew Barrie Lab

The jury said they “delighted in the contrasts” of this replacement for the heavy-masonry Baptist Tabernacle destroyed in the earthquakes. “While the architect’s hand is evident, it is not dominant proving that there can be great richness in economy,” they noted.

Lakeside Soldiers Memorial Hall by Architecture Workshop

The jury described this project as a “beautifully composed, rhythmic series of experiences that clearly establish a sense of place”.

Tūranga by Architectus and Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects

A winner of both an Interior Architecture and Public Architecture award, the jury said that this building “shows the potential of a library to be more than just a repository for books”.

Christchurch Outpatients Building by CCM Architects, Jacobs (Brisbane) and Destravis in association

The jury commented that this project was a “great outcome for the city” and that it was “a resolutely cheerful landmark” on Riccarton Ave.

Woolston Community Library by Ignite Services, MAP Architects, Citycare Property and TM Consultants in association

“A clever piece of urban architecture that combines civic space with community hall and library to inject new life into Woolston’s main street,” the jury said.

Dunsandel Community Centre by Studio106 Architect and Babylon Gardens 

The jury noted that this project was designed to be “new source of pride” for the town.

The Arts Centre of Christchurch: DA and CE Buildings by Warren and Mahoney Architects

“Few buildings say ‘Christchurch’ like the Gothic Revival Arts Centre,” the jury said. “Warren and Mahoney has restored these important buildings to public use in ways that are warmer, stronger and more accessible.”

Winners: Small Project Architecture

New Brighton RSA Billiards Room by Bull O’Sullivan Architecture

This project was described by the jury as “utterly delightful”. They noted, “Despite the limited budget, no detail was left unconsidered, with beautiful light fittings, custom-made by the architects, nooks for elbows to lean or drinks to be placed, and even an ocular window to allow the setting sun to track across the space.”

All winners of the Canterbury Architecture Awards are eligible to win the New Zealand Architecture Awards, which are announced in November.