Having grown up in the small Bay of Plenty village of Mamaku and then travelled extensively throughout Europe in his twenties, Nicholas Dalton draws inspiration from his whakapapa Māori and is passionate about ensuring architecture moves from ‘New Zealand’ towards ‘Aotearoa’ in a way that celebrates the history of our country and people. Nicholas founded TOA Architects in 2010 and the practice now has 36 staff across three studios in Tāmaki Makaurau, Te Whanganui-a-Tara and Waiariki. We asked Nicholas what inspires him and what he’s looking forward to when judging this year’s awards.

Tell us about one of your favourite interior spaces – one that’s inspired you or your design thinking.

One of my favourite spaces would be the house I grew up in that my father designed – Te Whare o Rongo in Mamaku Village (1978), which translates to the ‘house of peace’. It had a super-efficient 10m x 10m floor plan split over three levels, which were incredibly clever volumetrically and added to the play of light with crisp white walls, clear heart-rimu trim and Douglas fir panelling.

The top story housed the children’s bedrooms and we had sliding panels, similar to shoji screens, so the whole house could be interconnected. Halfway up the staircase, there was a bespoke toy area, which made the best toy pit tamariki could ask for. Lastly, a solid rimu banister capped the stair balustrade, which was a favourite to slide down even into adulthood, setting the scene for a playful interior.

Anchored by mum and dad’s room on the ground floor, which was nice and cool, there was also a concrete spine zig-zag wall through the plan, which was heated by the wetback fire, keeping us toasty in the winter when it occasionally snowed. Finally, there were the family taonga and artworks that adorned our whare, my favourite of which was an immaculately pressed, copper, large-format hei tiki by my Uncle Ray. Watch this space.

If you could design an interior project for anyone, what would it be and why?

This year we are building our own house on Te Motu-arai-roa (Waiheke Island) and experimenting with new technologies, such as 3D-printed concrete and NZ Sips panelling. It’s also very exciting to be designing the interiors for my wife Bianka, daughter Arabella, and our female boxer puppy, Anahera. I want them to have an elevated version of what I had growing up, first and foremost being a true home like I had with Te Whare o Rongo but, also, allowing for playful and clever moments, too.

My daughter loves ballet and hip hop so I want to provide space for that and am visualising a mirror wall and ballet bar like no other. I’m also designing a secret space for hide and seek or those quiet times, as well as a live music area for Arabella’s baby grand piano, which is currently cared for and played at a Tongan church in Onehunga.

We want Arabella to have the best house on Waiheke, not in terms of size but the most unique and playful house she will remember for the rest of her life. My wife comes from a long line of talented beauticians and she used to own Mollies Spa in St Mary’s Bay, where she worked on celebrities like, well, Beyonce. I want to ensure there is a luxury spa for her to practice her magic so, once again, watch this space.

What are you looking forward to while judging the 2022 Interior Awards?

I am devoted to the design of Aotearoa, being design that is of this land. I love the idea of creating or inventing an idiom that achieves design of international quality but is clearly born of Aotearoa.