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Viewfinder: Marina Mathews

Projects | Tell us about the five projects you've chosen as your favourites. Marina Mathews (MM): My first is Anna-Marie Chin’s Lake Hayes Cottage. Being based in Queenstown, I photograph a lot of luxury holiday...

Into the wild: Oceania Biophilia Summit

Review | Glenorchy is the quintessential location for a summit about Biophilia. When looking into the practice of creating stronger connections between the natural world and the built environment – for the ben...

The future of green building

Review | While it was a shame to miss out on hearing Hon. Paula Bennett’s opening speech at the Green Property Summit 2017, the fact that she couldn’t make it due to traffic congestion was a point in itself. T...

Humanity and the machine

Review | Shed 10 was perhaps not the best place to be located on what felt like Auckland’s windiest day of the year, but the speakers at this year’s CoreNet Symposium, with their mind-blowing facts and figures...

Diversity in architecture: part one

Practice | Diversity in the New Zealand architectural profession is not just about gender but about including a range of ethnicities, abilities, sexualities, economic backgrounds and ages. Historically, the arch...

Houses revisited: Grey Lynn garage

Projects | It took vision – and perhaps a dash of desperation – to see the potential for what was previously a dilapidated mechanic’s workshop in Grey Lynn to become what you see in these images, a vibrant New Y...

The secret garden: Pilkingtons

Projects | Walking up the stone staircase to Pilkingtons on Shortland Street in Auckland’s CBD is like entering a secret garden. Elevated above the busy street and with the AIG building towering overhead, Pilkin...

Houses revisited: Point Chevalier house

Projects | Point Chevalier is now well and truly in the ranks of Auckland’s real estate top dogs, so it is not surprising that any site in the beachside suburb is worth building on, even if, like this one, it ha...

Inner-city haven

Projects | Despite its location – nestled behind the bustle of Parnell Rise – this apartment is like an oasis of calm. This might be in part due to the view; from the living area it takes in the landscape of bea...

Houses revisited: Mellons Bay house

Projects | A spring runs beneath the site where this house is built — and to pay homage to it, architect Daniel Marshall has designed the house as a sculptural ode to the waterway below and the sea ahead. “The h...

Flexible space: AW Architects

Projects | Those who have remained in Christchurch since the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes are a resilient bunch. Many Cantabrians testify that the sense of community in the area is stronger than ever, and a lot of ...

Nature play

Projects | An aspirational ideology was the basis for the design of Kākāpō Creek Children’s Garden. The clients, a teacher and a child psychologist, wanted to break away from the usual institutionalized nature o...

Hot House: Black Rock House

Projects | A site on a largely untouched headland in the sheltered and beautiful Lyttelton Harbour was a “once in a blue moon” opportunity for architect Jasper van der Lingen of Sheppard & Rout Architects to cre...

Place to be: St Benedicts flat

Projects | Auckland’s Eden Terrace is a gritty, city-fringe suburb on the move. With high-end apartment buildings such as SKHY and The Orange being established and redeveloped in its vicinity, its reputation as ...

Flooring focus: part two

Review | French oak / “There is a distinct relationship between the Humphrey Ikin bench, which is an outdoor furniture piece that has been brought indoors, and this solid French oak flooring. The flooring is f...

Calligraphy and stone: The Books House

Projects | Three books stacked haphazardly on top of one another created an unusual basis for the design of this house, dubbed ‘The Books House’ by its architect Luigi Rosselli. The clients, a calligrapher and a...

Te Manawa Atawhai Catherine McAuley Centre

Projects | The New Zealand Sisters of Mercy originally arrived on the West Coast of the South Island in 1878, having been sent across the world from Ireland to share their teachings. Their founder, Catherine McA...

Rural reminders: 12 Year House

Projects | It may have taken some time to arrive at the finish line – around 12 years, hence the house’s title – but, for the owners of this contemporary hideaway 18km north-east of Nelson, it is an idyllic and ...

Hot House: Melbourne hiro-en

Projects | In Japanese architecture, an engawa is a transitional area that is neither inside nor outside the house: similar to a porch or a sunroom in function. The traditional purpose of the space is to allow t...

Island time: Fiji home

Projects | Situated on Naisoso Island, just a stone’s throw from Fiji’s main international airport in Nadi, the plot of 3000m2 was ideal for the owner couple, Raina and Tejash, who both work overseas but prefer ...

Summer living: New York getaway

Projects | Situated on a one-acre lot surrounded by established trees and beautiful hydrangea bushes, this traditionally styled shingle house is a classic example of a Hamptons holiday home. Like a lot of older ...

Ship’s ahoy: The Houseboat

Projects | Designed like the upturned hull of a ship, sheltering its interiors from the coastal site in Poole Harbour in southern England, The Houseboat is a light-filled, lofty home with a difference. / Its la...

Lakeside luxe: Lugano apartment

Projects | The apartment is spread over two levels in a recently built apartment building, which was designed by Milan architecture practice Archea Associati. Comprising just 16 apartments, the building is suppo...

Fresh palette: The Rabbit Patch

Projects | Located in the suburb of Burnside in Christchurch, The Rabbit Patch is a purpose-built preschool that operates on the Reggio Emilia philosophy of learning, which includes seeing the learning environme...

Lakeside hideaway

Projects | Bellbirds sing and kereru roost in the native trees surrounding this hideaway near Queenstown. Located on the road to Glenorchy, within a stone’s skip from a calm bay in Lake Wakatipu, this site calle...

Parisian chic

Projects | Overlooking Le Moulin de la Galette, the historic windmill in Montmartre, Paris, this 1970s’ loft apartment is set out like a gallery space housing the inhabitants’ collection of contemporary art and ...

Houses revisited: Coastal house

Projects | Rather like a nest tucked into some branches at the top of a tall tree, this house sits quietly in the hills of its coastal Waikato site. Designed for a pair of musicians as a refuge from both the pub...

Energy flows

Projects | For Trustpower the impetus to move to these sparkling new headquarters in Tauranga’s CBD was all about accommodating for change. With the future of electricity as we know it being uncertain, Trustpowe...

Tree-hut hideaway: Jungle House

Projects | Located on a mountainside in São Paulo State’s Atlantic Forest, this house emanates the childhood feeling of being in a tree-hut: breezy, free from the stresses of the ground, and with an extraordinar...

Well connected: Black & White House

Projects | Standing at the front door, this 510m2 house appears like any other bungalow you might see on a tree-lined street in Remuera, but some surprises lurk beyond the original 1930s façade. The back half of...