Homes

When architect Matt Robinson and his wife Penny Thomson purchased their modest 75m² state house — once dismissed as a ‘shabby shocker’ — they saw beyond the catchphrase to the home’s solid bones and prime location on an enviable Westmere section, transforming it into something undeniably special.

This family home designed by Mason & Wales is an elegant, contemporary addition to the heart of Dunedin and was influenced by luxury yachting and its enviable context.

When Brad Pearless was engaged to design a home for a large, multigenerational family on a subdivided piece of land in Waterview, Auckland, the aim was to create a sustainable, energy efficient building that would stand the test of time.

An expansive renovation realigns this Northland house to the sea with a contemporary material palette that feels right at home.

There’s a poetic rigour to this house, which moves effortlessly between transparency and solidity. On a site overlooking the Tukituki valley and the craggy summit of Te Mata Peak, it is irrevocably immersed in the moods of the mountains.

Layered like the tiers of a decadent cake, this beach house on an exposed corner site is a striking blend of coastal chic and spatial dynamism.

This sophisticated holiday home by Studio Pacific is composed of three pavilions and was inspired by mountain huts, Japanese interiors, extreme sports, yoga, and hospitality.

At the end of a shingle road deep in the Muriwai Valley on Auckland’s rugged West Coast is a place of dreamlike tranquillity. Here, Adam Mercer and Alastair Mckenzie envisioned a home that would cascade down from a ridgeline, culminating in a living space at the centre of a natural amphitheatre surrounded by native trees.

From the embers of an old Ponsonby villa rises a clever interpretation of traditional forms. Julian Guthrie Architecture achieved something entirely contemporary, yet firmly rooted in colonial design vocabulary.

A place for relaxation without the added frills, and shelter from the elements without losing sight of the sun; Strachan Group Architects delivers a simple yet soothing statement on the shores of Langs Beach.

This home on a rural block on Auckland’s North Shore, designed by Sayes Jackson Architects, is composed of grand gestures and exceptional detailing.

Arkhé Architecture was inspired by camping, tramping, and — somewhat laterally — even Mars when designing this small, bush-clad Bay of Plenty retreat with sun-drenched coastal views.

Situated on a hill in a small town on an isthmus separating two picture-perfect bays, this decades-old bach and sleep-out by Studio Pacific Architecture continues to inspire and resonate.

Located among grand, expansive neighbours, this modest holiday home by Andrew Meiring Architects had to find confidence and gravitas from smart, sculptural moves.

Lenticular House by Patterson Associates sits within the dunes of the Northland coast. It is a highly crafted, beautifully detailed, sleek machine for uncomplicated living.

Approach this 100-year-old villa in Auckland’s Remuera and there’s a beguiling sense of history and character, but there’s also a sense of something more.

Five simple elements and the well-placed delivery of a stunning view define this minimalist, Hawke’s Bay home by Dorrington Atcheson Architects.

When a client’s brief is to “come up with something you think looks good”, the parameters are so open and the trust so complete that it can feel overwhelming. However, architect Phil Smith had known Martin and Christina Russell for close to a decade. If they were relaxed, so was he.

This clear insertion into the back of a century-old Wellington villa provides an extra 135 square metres and a myriad of spatial experiences for the owners.

This Leigh holiday house by Belinda George Architects offers spatial variation, highly contrasting experiences, and a bespoke solution that reflects its owners’ personalities.

Danish modernism, Kiwi nostalgia, and a touch of grandeur converge on a one-of-a-kind site in Mangawhai, where a home of red brick and glass is dwarfed by an undulating dunescape.

About 15 years ago, Darryl and Lee-Ann Church happened upon a for sale sign as they were driving to their child’s school camp at Lake Whakamaru. The land was part of a working farm, a property spanning 175 hectares that would ultimately be jointly owned by the purchasers of 50 new blocks within its boundaries.

Located down a densely populated driveway, this steep, small site didn’t have a lot of obvious benefits. What it did present was a number of questions, the answer to each offering a topical narrative on where to from here when designing stand-alone homes for family life in our cities.

On a piece of Christchurch real estate with some serious architectural heavyweights as neighbours, this home had to do justice to the area’s rich design legacy while embracing a contemporary approach to a prominent, public-facing corner site.

This monopitch, minor dwelling by Assembly Architects was inspired by Roman domus, tripped up by gladiatorial battles against local design parameters, and boasts a tasteful play of translucency and light.

That recurrent trope of ‘compression and expansion’ in architecture has been given a beautiful, rocky interpretation above Alexandra and looking across to the Hawkdun Range.

A beautifully understated Westmere home filled with luxurious detailing makes the most of its waterfront location.

Tucked away on an idyllic semi-rural site in Paremoremo, on the outskirts of Auckland, New Zealand’s first — and the southern hemisphere’s largest — 3D-printed concrete house marks a bold move forwards, and a golden opportunity to make architecture more accessible.

With help of a meticulous brief, exacting craft, and impeccable taste, this 1916 Arts and Crafts house in Remuera, Auckland, has been brought into the modern era in a manner true to the spirit of its original style.

A restricted material palette, a modernist soul that is part Californian, and a touch of Japanese — all combine to form an entirely picture-perfect Waiheke home by Rowe Baetens Architecture.

Part homage to the late Sir Miles Warren, part allusion to the owners’ Dutch and farming roots, this house by PRau is a beautiful amalgam of influences and materials.

On the cusp of land and sea on the rugged coastline of Christchurch’s Te Rae Kura — the red, glowing headland — the folding form of this home echoes and reflects the transience of the coast.

Nestled in a vast mānuka forest that nudges the edge of suburban Whitby in Wellington, this family home stands among the trees, balanced on the spine of a natural ridge overlooking an undeveloped bush-filled valley.

A Sumner site that’s all angles provides opportunity to think outside the square.

A joyful yet important little building in Paekākāriki that holds the spirit of whānau and the village in its DNA.

A home that decides for itself how best to live on the land is conceived to last for centuries.

This sophisticated Queenstown home by Rafe Maclean Architects is both introverted and expressive. A sculptural exterior form gives way to an interior that was once described by guests as being like the inside of a wooden jewellery box.

A dynamic family home with an unassuming street presence unfolds on a picture-perfect Westmere site, opening out at its lowest point to a brooding south-facing view.

A manifestation of permanence and solidity, this decadent concrete bunker near Tekapo echoes the silence of the lands that surround it.

A family home designed by Space Division replicates bucolic living in the middle of a busy Auckland suburb.

Can great architecture and affordable housing coexist? In this case, absolutely.

Just before the turn of last century, two brothers built a pair of brick villas side by side in the Christchurch suburb of St Albans.

In an area of Mount Maunganui where the divide between urban and coastal collides in a streetscape of varying design languages, ata interpreted his clients’ brief with a creative approach.

This lake house by Rogan Nash Architects can function as both a retirement spot for a couple and a welcoming holiday home for several children and their extended families.

A study on infill housing, this Sandringham home designed for a couple returning to New Zealand from California maximises a small footprint to deliver spaces of versatility within a simple but intriguing façade.

Jose Gutierrez Architects transformed this character villa, located on a typical Grey Lynn street, into a contemporary oasis — a place that moves between lightness and solidity with a fluid grace.

High above Waiheke Island’s Owhanake Bay, this pool pavilion speaks to the architectural nuances of the main home, while introducing its own distinct identity — a restorative space intuitively connected with land and sea.

In one of the most distinctive coastal environments in New Zealand, this large family home takes its cues from the dramatic beauty of the sound it overlooks, and follows the natural contours of the land to embrace the setting and disappear into the bush-covered hillside.

On a steep and challenging hillside site surrounded by native bush, this Piha home was envisioned as a weekend getaway.

Designed as a two-property subdivision, in conjunction with the neighbouring Beach Forest House, My House showcases how a collective approach to multi-residential design can result in a diverse set of architectural homes that not only seek to provide a viable solution to the call for increased density but which also improve our streetscapes.

In the vastness of a southern valley in one of the most remote regions of New Zealand, RTA Studio designed an entirely unexpected concrete dwelling of two parts and modernist intentions.

Perched on a hill above the tiny coastal settlement of Ligar Bay, this two-tiered bach was designed to capture the view in absolute purity, playing with a dialogue that pushes and pulls between solidity and transparency.

During a visit to Waiheke a decade or so ago, an architect was struck by a simple, refined sculpture and the way that its ad hoc form, created from a roll of corrugated iron, twisted down a hillside, creating and enclosing spaces.

On a prominent street corner in Grey Lynn bordering the heritage zone, this rectilinear addition presents a new and mostly closed face — a bold architectural statement that gives way to refined interior spaces.

Tying in with the pastel tones of the Coromandel sands, this home floats above the land, hovering almost, atop a native bush-covered knoll overlooking the twin peaks of Mount Paku.

A zig-zagging black form lounges in the sun among old trees and the serrated mountainscape visible from the Wakatipu Basin. Its architect, Anna-Marie Chin – winner of Home of the Year 2022 – tells us more.

Architect Paul Francis set about the extensive renovation of a 30-year-old home on the edge of Hobson Bay with the aim of removing the boundaries between architecture and landscape, envisioning a design that would fall gracefully into the background.