INDE.Awards organisers say this year’s shortlist reflects “the bold, visionary and innovative nature of architecture and design in the Indo-Pacific.”

The shortlist was chosen from more than 500 projects by an international super-jury of 31, including New Zealand’s-own Jeremy Smith of Irving Smith Architects and Whare Timu, Principal and Te Matakirea Lead at Warren and Mahoney.

Winners will be announced in Melbourne on Thursday 1 August, 2024.

Shortlisted projects from New Zealand include:

The Building Space category

Tākina Wellington Convention and Exhibition Centre – Studio Pacific Architecture

Tākina is placed among 12 standout buildings in the region and is the only project from New Zealand to have been shortlisted in this category. This category puts Tākina in the running for the grand prize for the region’s most progressive architecture. In addition, the award recognises buldings that mark “a new direction” for the future of architecture and “respond to its local place and culture.”

On the shortlisting, the INDE.Awards judges said: “Tākina expresses in its form and materiality an essence of place that is deeply rooted in Wellington. The building has a unique sculptural form that draws inspiration from a wide range of sources, including its maritime location and Wellington’s dramatic, and sometimes wild, weather patterns and landforms.”

The Work Space category

Te Tihi Aurecon Auckland – Warren and Mahoney

Recognising the social and cultural needs of the workplace, this award honours workspace design that meets the demands of work and the needs of people. Also shortlisted in the 2024 Interior Awards, this outstanding workplace has garnered both local and international attention from the design community.

Says INDE.Awards on the shortlisting: “The project initiation began with hosting cultural visioning workshops alongside members of Aurecon’s He Rautaki Māori rōpū, to ensure the project would connect with people and place. This process evolved into a collaboration with local iwi Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, to discover co-design opportunities within the project and to personify Aurecon and co-create the project’s narrative.”

The Social Space category

Advieh – Warren and Mahoney in collaboration with Technē Architecture + Interior Design

This category honours hospitality and/or food and beverage spaces that “tell a relevant story,” capturing the imagination of passersbys and patrons and bringing people together.

Says INDE.Awards on the shortlisting: “Local basalt, cathedral glazing and smoked timbers, blackened steel and ombre brass are used throughout, all of which appear to have been forged or manipulated by heat. The colours, which fade in tones of reds and oranges to acidic greens and blues, are an ode to the volcanic…” in reference to the volcanic history of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and also Mount Tongariro situated further down the North Island.

The Learning Space category

Waimarie – Warren and Mahoney

This award category covers the spectrum of formal and informal spaces within an educational context. In particular, the award looks for spaces that promote connection and learning in today’s fast-paced world.

Says INDE.Awards on the shortlisting: “Designed to be an epicentre for education and research in the land-based disciplines, as well as a hub for interorganisational partnerships, industry-wide collaborations and centres of excellence, Waimarie features state-of-the-art teaching, research and collaboration spaces complemented by multi-use flexible workspace and social zones, all set within a biodiverse park-like environment.”

The Object category

Bahrkart – Dietzwood

An award recognising excellence in industrial design, this category looks at how an object functions, what it signifies and how well it suits its function, as well as originality in design.

Says INDE.Awards on the shortlisting: “Bahrkart is designed to be a statement piece in its own right, rather than serve as a storage trolley. Through the restricted material palette of solid timber, the design demonstrates its own different facets like a crown. Bahrkart is textural while remaining simplistic.”

The Prodigy category

Thomas Seear-Budd, James Ross – Directors, Seear-Budd Ross

Here, the design duo behind Seear-Budd Ross are being acknowledged for their multidisciplinary tour de force across design and architecture.

Says the architecture practice on their partnership: “We think that there is strength in collaboration. When we work together, our desire is to produce designs that elevate the human experience. We see our work as an opportunity to collaborate with builders, designers, clients and our own team to create memorable and enduring works of design and architecture.”

See the full shortlist at www.indeawards.com