The New Zealand Institute of Architects’ Wellington branch announced the winners of their local awards on Wednesday, 8 May at the Parliament Buildings. Twenty-five projects were commended that “have changed the face of Wellington city and other regional centres,” the NZIA reported.

Wellington architect Guy Marriage led this year’s awards jury which was comprised of fellow Wellington architect Judi Keith-Brown, Arrowtown architect Anna Marie Chin, interior designer Amelia Minty and ECC’s Bridget Dorn who was the lay judge.

Marriage noted, “The award-winning, city-based works have the confidence required of a modern metropolis.”

“They also speak to the particular conditions that shape Wellington’s buildings, and the abilities of our architects to create buildings that bring together innovation, culture and craft,” he continued.

Winners: Housing

Windy Point House by Andrew Sexton Architecture

Though this house “sits between a rock and a hard place”, the jury noted that it “makes the most of this challenge with exquisitely crafted joinery, cunningly clever planning and stunning views out over the wildest water in Wellington”. 

Cashmere Oaks House by Andrew Sexton Architecture

The judges described this project as “a model of well-executed design in the depths of suburbia”.

Winners: Housing – Alterations and Additions

Eglinton House by a.k.a Architecture

The judges were impressed by the way the architects were able to “generate a sophisticated solution seemingly out of thin air”.

Ngahuru by John Mills Architects

The jury called this inner-city warehouse conversion “transformative”.

Lyall Bay House Alterations by Mary Daish Architect

The jury noted that this redesign has “care and thoughtfulness drawn into every line of every detail – living proof that small can indeed be beautiful.”

Island Bay House Alterations by Sharon Jansen – Architect

These alterations “prove that modest and thoughtful design can create magic in small spaces”, the jury said.

Cambie Williams House Renovations by Tse:Wallace Architects

This renovation of an Eastbourne house continued the trend of finding “beauty in small things,” according to the jury.

Winners: Housing – Multi Unit

Te Mara Apartments by Novak+Middleton

The jury lauded this project for being “quality, solidly constructed city housing that will endure for another century”.

Salamanca Apartments by Parsonson Architects

“An existing house with good bones has been used as a springboard to reach new heights in bravura design. The detailing is superb, and planning takes the quirky original building and overlays it with a new layer of history and delight,” the jury said. 

Te Maru o Tawatawa by Studio Pacific Architecture

This replacement for an out-dated public housing scheme “provides bright and cheerful housing solutions that feature crisp design detailing and provide a positive street-front solution to Berhampore’s housing needs,” the judges commented. 

Winners: Commercial Architecture 

XXCQ by Studio Pacific Architecture

The jury described this building as “powerful and dynamic”, saying it “sits proudly as New Zealand’s tallest base-isolated building, featuring a subtly understated external diagrid frame, with the body sheathed in an ever-changing series of reflections”. 

Charles Fergusson Tower by Warren and Mahoney Architects 

“A carefully crafted refurbishment of a modernist classic,” the jury said.

Winners: Education

Wellington College Memorial Hall – Alan Gibbs Centre by architecture+

The project was commended for “showcasing both heritage and functionality and connecting old with new”.

Te Ara A Tāwhaki by Tennent Brown Architects

“The architects have woven mauri ora into the learning experience through careful placement of major spaces and the bold featuring of the superb quality carvings,” the judges noted.

Winner: Enduring Architecture

Salvation Army Citadel (1990) by Warren and Mahoney Architects

The jury called this project a space that “still sings loud” and is “performing sterling service nearly 30 years after its construction”.

Winners: Heritage 

St Mary of the Angels by Bulleyment Fortune Architects and Ian Bowman, architectural conservator, in association

The jury called this work a “labour of love” and noted that it brings “Frederick de Jersey Clere’s brilliant original design into the modern seismic code era”. 

163 Cuba Street Apartments by Herriot Melhuish O’Neill Architects

Once a run-down drapery building, the space has been reworked in to a bulding that “shows the way forward for sensitive urban renewal”, according to the jury.

Winner: Hospitality 

Whistling Sisters by Architecture HDT 

“It is a dramatic transformation of a drab space into one of the funkier new brewery bars in Wellington,” the jury said.

Winner: Interior Architecture

National Library Auditorium – Taiwhanga Kauhau by Warren and Mahoney Architects and ICE Design (Acoustics) in association

“The upgrade to a long-shelved auditorium project brings the theatre space up to the same high standards as the rest of the National Library,” the awards judges noted. 

Winners: Public Architecture

Hutt City Events Centre by architecture+ 

Part of a comprehensive city centre revitalisation that included the restoration of the Town Hall and a replacement for the “much-loved but thoroughly worn out Horticultural Hall”, the jury said this project was “exemplary work all round.”

Kumutoto Pavilion by Isthmus Group

The “folly structure” has a “sense of well-managed mischief and delight, shading a concrete table and creating a much sought-after place for a long lunch”, the jury said.

Naenae Regional Bowling Club by Tennent Brown Architects

The jury commented: “Sunhats off to the Hutt Council, who doubled down on falling rolls to create a super-club encompassing bowls, community facilities, and a hard-working RSA, all under a splendid new tensile fabric roof.”

Waihinga Martinborough Community Centre by Warren and Mahoney Architects

The jury called this project a “bold new vision that brings its two constituent parts together in a warm embrace”.

The jury was impressed with the way the designers “have made Toi Art more visible, more viable and more enjoyable”.

Winner: Small Project Architecture

Chapel for Mother Aubert by Tennent Brown Architects

The jury said this project was “quiet, demure and unassuming, yet capable of packing a sizable punch of singular purpose”. 

All winners of the 2019 Wellington Architecture Awards are eligible to win the New Zealand Architecture Awards, which are announced in November.