Homes Archives

Outdoor flow turns this home into a sun-filled summer space

Architects Julian Mitchell and Rachel Dodd built the deck before the house, creating a functional outdoor space for the family Outdoor flow turns this home to sun-filled summer space Nearly a decade ago, architects Julian Mitchell and Rachel Dodd were living in a one-bedroom flat in Devonport, Auckland, with a second baby on the way when they found a crumbling duplex on a gently sloping site for sale in nearby Belmont. They nearly didn’t buy

An introvert family goes for an extrovert colour on their hillside home

This home’s vivid orange exterior is a sparky contrast to the green setting. We discover why this family chose the colour for the “the absurdity of it” An introvert family goes for an extrovert colour on their hillside home I’m 20 minutes late to meet Emma and George Bettle at their house in Maungakawa, northeast of Cambridge. I’ve been up and down a windy hillside road looking for the bright orange house that I assumed, from

This kitchen is the ultimate entertaining space despite its tricky shape

Designer Veryan Laity reworked an unusual corner of this triangular house to create a very sleek and social kitchen space Designer: Veryan Laity of IK2 Design Architect: Bryan Windeatt of McKinney + Windeatt Interior: Gilly Baillie Photography: Jackie Meiring Location: Auckland Brief: A new, repositioned kitchen in a renovated seaside home Why did you relocate the kitchen in this home? Veryan Laity: The home is by the water on a triangular section, and the house

Black and white textures add drama to this light-filled kitchen

This kitchen in Mt Eden, designed by Joanna Hoeft, takes contrasting elements and blends them to create an inspired space Black and white textures add drama to this light-filled kitchen Designer: Joanna Hoeft, Studio Italia Location: Mt Eden, Auckland Brief: To redesign a kitchen, laundry and bathroom space in the designer’s own home. You chose black to lessen the impact of the floorboard tones. How did you choose the material for the cabinets? Joanna Hoeft:

This new-build in Muriwai takes advantage of the dramatic sweeping views

A home on a cliff above Muriwai Beach by Julian Guthrie sits rock-solid in sunshine and storms This new-build in Muriwai takes advantage of the dramatic sweeping views On the cliff above the southern end of Auckland’s Muriwai Beach, a line of houses overlooks the world-famous gannet colony and Oaia Island, where hundreds of seals come ashore to give birth each year. From up here, the beach stretches away into the surf-hazed distance along the

A rundown Kingsland villa scrubs up well

Architect Jack McKinney likens the home’s amalgamation of old and new to a mullet haircut: “formal in the front, party down the back” A rundown Kingsland villa scrubs up well It started small, as so many big projects do. A decade ago, architect Jack McKinney and his partner Tracy Lunjevich bought a rundown villa in Kingsland, a gentrifying suburb in central Auckland. Main attractions: the area is filled with turn-of-the-century villas, has a raffish charm,

An Omaha holiday beach home that makes the most of sun, surf and sand

Architect Julian Guthrie looks to low-maintenance materials that weather well for this summer home among the sand dunes An Omaha holiday beach home that makes the most of sun, surf and sand What are the key considerations when designing a house by the sea? Coastal homes need to withstand a much harsher environment, both from wind and sun, and also salt and even sand deterioration. The interior should allow for sandy bare feet! Low-maintenance materials

New Zealand’s best new apartments

A group of Wellington apartments by Parsonson Architects slots 16 bedrooms onto the site of a single villa – and wins HOME magazine’s Best Multi-Unit Project prize in its Home of the Year awards. But not without controversy. [jwp-video n=”1″] The Zavos Corner Apartments are located on a prominent corner in the Wellington suburb of Mount Victoria, and they weren’t erected without a fight. In fact, architect Gerald Parsonson of Parsonson Architects, the firm

A coastal home in Thames offers a secret sanctuary

Adam Mercer of Mercer and Mercer Architects takes inspiration from the intensity of the landscape and dramatic sweeping sea views A coastal home in Thames offers a secret sanctuary What were the most challenging aspects of designing this home? The power and drama of this site is immense, the challenge was to do it justice. Now that’s it’s finished, what do you enjoy most about the design? The random photos that Kirsty and Viv send

A bach that’s actually a permanent home

A bach that’s actually a permanent home It was Andrew Vette’s grandfather who first established the family’s bach at Makorori Beach, just north of Gisborne. The original “tin-shed shack” was built in the sand dunes just after World War Two; Vette’s grandfather enlisted his rugby team to help drag the bach up the slope and onto its foundations when the land was subdivided. With various accretions, it eventually became a basic two-bedroom home that his

This Mount Maunganui home shares the spirit of the quintessential Kiwi bach

Evan Mayo of Architecture Bureau discusses making way for the new while still retaining enchanting elements of this once classic-Kiwi holiday home This Mount Maunganui home shares the spirit of a quintessential Kiwi bach Were you surprised when Mark and Heather decided to remove the original cottage? When we designed the rear house, the understanding was that, at some stage, the question of their use of the original cottage would need to be addressed. But it

Kitchens: modern refinement in an old Brooklyn building

When Berridge and his client Jennifer Bartlett decided they wanted the kitchen upstairs where the light was best, the result was a space with an 11-metre-long counter overlooking the street outside. The sheer size of it drove the layout and aesthetic with Berridge opting for open pull cupboards instead of a forest of handles and knobs. Kitchens: modern refinement in an old Brooklyn building HOME In this living, dining and kitchen space, you’ve run the kitchen along one

Bathrooms: 1920s luxury

Obsessive attention to detail transformed this small space into a natural extension of the apartment and an elegant nod to 1920s style. HOME What were the key decorative moves you made in this small space? Jonathan Rutherford-Best, owner It’s very small – it really is a powder room. We wanted to evoke a sense of 1920s luxury throughout the entire apartment, and this powder room has all the hallmarks of the period. There’s a

Step inside a Moroccan-inspired beach house

A view was a prerequisite for Heidi Correa and her family when hunting for a weekend home at Palm Beach north of Sydney This modernist house comes complete with a three-storey tower and an epic view, offering 360-degree panoramic vistas. But the rest of the home is just as gorgeous with a fresh Moroccan feel that combines rustic furniture pieces with bright pops of colour, woven Turkish rugs and leather poufs. In fact, decorating the interior inspired

A new deck created the ultimate indoor outdoor living for this small home

Although their house was small and pokey, architects Julian Mitchell and Rachel Dodd built a deck first which created some much-needed extra living space A new deck created the ultimate indoor outdoor living for this small home Nearly a decade ago, architects Julian Mitchell and Rachel Dodd were living in a one-bedroom flat in Devonport, Auckland, with a second baby on the way when they found a crumbling duplex on a gently sloping site for

The inspiration for this Waiheke bach comes from an unlikely source

This Waiheke holiday home creates a balance between public and private living. John Irving of Studio John Irving discusses the inspiration for the design The inspiration for this Waiheke bach comes from an unlikely source Is the gabled roof really a nod to the nearby public toilet block? Yes. It’s a great toilet block: the roof is an amazing structure. You describe the owners as “serial offenders”. Does that make them easier to work with?

Your complete 2017 kitchen style forecast

From our lifestyle and cooking habits to material and appliance choices, we discover the latest kitchen trends with the lead designers from Fisher & Paykel Your complete 2017 kitchen style forecast The home of Simon Devitt was built in 1968, though no one knows who designed it originally. After several years living in the house, Devitt asked old friend Jessica Barter from Bureaux to rework the house, including the kitchen, which was outfitted with walnut

Clever architecture has transformed this staircase into an active space

Lloyd Hartley Architects have cleverly reworked the dead space of this entryway into the perfect spot to linger a little longer Clever architecture has transformed this staircase into an active space “I find at parties you’ll say, ‘Right, we’re leaving,’ and one of you will go to the door and then the other one has struck up a new conversation,” says architect Mike Hartley of Lloyd Hartley Architects who, together with Ben Lloyd, designed this

Entries for Home of the Year 2017 are now open

Entries for Home of the Year 2017 are now open. Find out how you can take part in the country’s most prestigious awards for residential architecture The entries for Home of the Year 2017 are now open We’re delighted to announce that entries for Home of the Year 2017 are now open. Home of the Year is the country’s most prestigious awards for residential architecture – and the most lucrative, coming with a $15,000 prize for

A 1950s weatherboard home with a sleek family bathroom

A skylight, clever tile design, and black and white accents create a sleek small space in this Mairangi Bay family bathroom Architects Ben Lloyd and Mike Hartley of Lloyd Hartley Architects Location Mairangi Bay, Auckland Brief A new family bathroom in a 1950s weatherboard home Q&A with architect Ben Lloyd and owners Tracey and Michael Welson What has this renovation involved? Ben Lloyd: As part of a grand-plan alteration to the existing family home, this bathroom was the

This new-build playfully contrasts public and private living

This new-build plays an important role in Wellington’s Oriental Bay. See how clever design has created public and private living spaces Around Wellington, Oriental Parade is widely embraced as the Riviera of the South Pacific. That may not be obvious to a French or Italian tourist (or anyone originating from what used to be termed the Orient) but if you hail from Tawa, Taita or Titahi Bay, it’s second only to after-dark Courteney Place as

Collaboration was the key to completing this tricky new-build

A mixture of intelligent design and collaboration was the key to overcoming the many challenges that faced the completion of this hillside home Collaboration was the key to completing this tricky new-build For Tobin Smith of Christchurch practice CoLab Architecture and his designer client Tim Kelleher of Sons & Co, the challenges of collaboration were never an issue. The two met in passing a decade ago after Tim and his wife Elizabeth had purchased a

This Oriental Bay home balances street theatre with domesticity

This playful new house, designed by Chris Kelly from Architecture Workshop, delicately balances public and private personas in Wellington’s Oriental Bay Q & A with Chris Kelly of Architecture Workshop The design process took a couple of years and a number of iterations. Are we too quick to build? I think all design is an iterative process. Our approach is to do as many design iterations as possible, within the given fee. There are many decisions (about 10,000

Inside a perfectly preserved 1970s home by Claude Megson

In Meadowbank, Auckland, a 1970s marvel by the late Claude Megson is still full of swagger and complexity after being unaltered for four decades Q & A with architect and author Giles Reid Who was Claude Megson? Architect Claude Megson was born in Whangarei and practiced in Auckland from 1962 until his death in 1994. He taught at the University of Auckland from 1965. For much of his lifetime his work was widely considered equal to

A petite bathroom goes big on rustic texture

A newly renovated, petite St Heliers ensuite bathroom by Studio 106 Architect goes big on rustic texture while managing to keep things modern Architect Dion Gosling of Studio 106 Architect Location St Heliers, Auckland Brief An ensuite bathroom in a renovated home Q&A with co-owner, Sandi McDonald Was there an overall approach to the design of this bathroom? We’re not shiny people. We like things to be textural and rustic, but still modern. The tapware is Astra Walker,

The Lyttelton home that took 10 years to come to life

It took 10 years and two major earthquakes, but this house built on a steep hillside section in Lyttelton was worth the wait Q & A with Tobin Smith of CoLab Architecture How did you decide on the form the house was going to take? The site is an interesting wedge shape with steep natural topography that opens and elevates from the street to the rear boundary. The long, linear floor plan was designed to open

A rural new-build blurs the boundaries between inside and out

A new home at Waimauku by Herbst Architects draws inspiration from ‘the African way of living’ to create a home that embraces outside as much as inside A rural new-build blurs the boundaries between inside and out From the outside, this new house by Herbst Architects in the middle of bucolic Waimauku, on the outskirts of West Auckland, presents itself in two contradictory faces. Approaching from the driveway to the south and east, where a

A family home succeeds in bringing beach and city to the suburbs

An architect and an industrial designer succeed in melding beach and city together flawlessly in their family home in Westmere, Auckland A family home succeeds in bringing beach and city to the suburbs Andrew Meiring and Helen Jones had two very good templates to follow when it came to building this house, in a secluded crescent in the Auckland suburb of Westmere. They relished the buzz and grittiness of the bolt-hole they shared in the

A newly-renovated apartment bathroom achieves elegance with marble

Designer Yvette Jay used Carrara marble tiles to bring elegance to this small Grey Lynn apartment bathroom The details Designer Yvette Jay Location Grey Lynn, Auckland Brief Renovate an existing apartment bathroom for maximum impact Q&A with designer Yvette Jay What was the starting point for this bathroom? The beautiful Carrara marble tiles. I had worked with the client before on the flooring in the apartment (a combination of timber and carpet) and we found these tiles

This Waimauku home combines solidity and transparency perfectly

Rather than seek to respond to the site, a new home at Waimauku by Herbst Architects defines the landscape around it with an interplay of solidity and transparency Q & A with Lance and Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architects How did you position the house without many natural elements to respond to? Lance: We were looking to find some good reason to put the building in one place or another. There didn’t seem to be one, as

A design-savvy couple nail holidaying at home

An architect and an industrial designer succeed in melding beach and city together flawlessly in their family home in Westmere, Auckland Q & A with architect and owner Andrew Meiring This isn’t the first time you’ve designed a house for yourself – what did you learn the first times around? I learned not to be too precious and feel like the design had to embody everything I am as an architect. I think you can scare

An airy beach house bathroom fulfills its design goals

An Omaha Beach holiday home’s ensuite bathroom emphasises light and relaxation while managing to accommodate a generous shower space and vanity Designer Julian Guthrie Location Omaha Beach Brief An ensuite bathroom for a holiday home, with a generous shower and vanity space Q&A with designer Julian Guthrie What was the starting point for this bathroom design? It’s a repetition of the materials used around the home, including bagged masonry, band-sawn cedar, marble and raw brass. We wanted to create a

A concrete box on the back of a villa manages to both compare and contrast

A ‘counter-intuitive’ design transformed this old villa into a contemporary, private space without compromising the 110-year-old building’s integrity A villa renovation that blends then and now It’s something of a familiar story, with a much less familiar result. Like a lot of villas, this house had an awkward relationship with its backyard: it sat high above a sloping lawn with a series of lean-tos, the first of which had been added not long after the house

A heritage-listed Auckland apartment gets a beautiful update

A sensitive renovation of a heritage-listed Auckland apartment brings light and space without sacrificing any of its charm The Brooklyn building on Emily Place, Auckland Auckland should be grateful to Sinclair O’Connor. The Fremantle-born architect designed a number of iconic apartment buildings around central Auckland at the start of last century, including both Courtvilles, Hampton Court and the elegant Espano flats at the top of Myers Park. Towards the end of the 1920s, he designed Brooklyn, a

Assembly Architects design a compact home on a Central Otago vineyard

A family home in Central Otago’s Gibbston Valley opts for pared-back simplicity in a lavish landscape In the 1960s, the average New Zealand house size was 128 square metres. Five decades later, interior designer Nikki Wilson, web developer Michael Cox and their daughters Orla, eight, and Fehn, six, live in a home exactly that size in Central Otago’s Gibbston Valley. When you think about it that way, the house has no right to appear in

5 rules of designing a small home with Assembly Architects

Creating a perfectly simplified home in Central Otago was a welcome exercise in leanness for its owners and architects. They share their top tips for designing small 1. Rooms don’t need to be as big as you think. Justin Wright: A room on a plan looks 100 times smaller than it will be. We find clients run measuring tapes around rooms, and want to make those planned spaces bigger. They don’t necessarily appreciate that being

This Banks Peninsula home was constructed in just three days

This beautifully pared-back home on Banks Peninsula comes with a fascinating story – not only was it originally designed as a temporary home that ended up being a permanent one, it was constructed in just three days thanks to its precision manufactured panelling [jwp-video n=”1″] It was originally designed as a small, transitional home for Mike and Brenda Warrander after their adjacent home was extensively damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. This little studio on Banks

A little studio on Banks Peninsula with a big story

Originally designed as a small, transitional home, the owners of this little studio on Banks Peninsula inadvertently found this 65-square-metre home fulfills all their needs [jwp-video n=”1″] The five rules of designing a small home by Makers of Architecture 1 Design flexible spaces for comfort and efficiency. Small homes work best when they’re made up of adaptable, flexible spaces. Design open-plan spaces with multi-use furniture – a stool can function as an extra seat around the dining table or as a

A hut in Cardrona Valley designed as an exercise in going without

The landscape of the Cardrona Valley is big; the 72-square-metre holiday home there that architect Richard Naish of RTA Studio designed for himself and his family is much less so The 5 rules of designing small by Richard Naish of RTA studio [jwp-video n=”1″] 1 Give yourself a tight brief. A tight brief means there’s not a lot of room to go off on a tangent and do unnecessary things. 2 Keep things flexible.

Waiheke architect Vaughn McQuarrie designed this perfectly petite home

A Waiheke Island getaway morphs into a petite, permanent home Waiheke home by Vaughn McQuarrie The morning after the Brexit referendum, I took a ferry to Waiheke Island on an eerily British day of low cloud and light, and dense rain. A short commute from the Matiatia Wharf is a new, small house by Waiheke-based architect Vaughn McQuarrie. It’s a modest home that contrasts a material rawness with detailed perfectionism and balances the charming cottage

This Waiheke Island getaway soon became a permanent home

Working within a modest footprint, architect Vaughn McQuarrie injected drama into the design of this simple Waiheke Island home The 5 rules of designing a small home by Vaughn McQuarrie 1 Design for the sun First and foremost, plan the house to get sun into the main spaces, if not all of them – more of it in the winter, less in the summer. Sunlight can transform even the smallest room. 2 Less is more Minimalism

This little holiday home in Cardrona Valley thinks big

A Cardrona Valley getaway designed by RTA Studios offers big lessons on a small scale A Cardrona Valley hut by RTA Studios that thinks big The landscape of the Cardrona Valley is big; the 72-square-metre holiday home there that architect Richard Naish of RTA Studio designed for himself and his family is much less so. That, of course, was exactly the intention: the home was designed as an exercise in going without, but it still

A 45-square-metre studio designed for an exposed Wellington hilltop

An architect designs a studio with bach connotations for an exposed Wellington site with top views Thurston Studio, Wellington Architect: Cushla Thurston Floor area: 45m2 In 2006, when Wellington couple Cushla and Richard Thurston purchased their mid-century home in Brooklyn, Wellington, they earmarked the flat, barren space at the rear of the property for an art studio. Six years later, tired of schlepping across town to use a space behind his parents’ Seatoun home, Rich, an artist

This Wellington home packs a lot of living into its small frame

This family home may be petite, but it cleverly provides the owners with everything they need Family home, Wellington Architects: First Light Studio Floor area: 86m2 It almost sounds like the perfect brief. “They wanted to do something small, clever, good quality and not too expensive,” says Eli Nuttall of Wellington’s First Light Studio, about his clients’ desires for their house on a sub-divided site in Seatoun. [quote title=”We pride ourselves on doing” green=”true” text=”smaller, smarter and

A bach-style studio with gob-smacking views of Wellington

A Wellington couple transformed the flat, barren space at the back of their property into an open-plan studio with sweeping views – all in just 45m2 Thurston Studio, Wellington Architect: Cushla Thurston Floor area: 45m2 In 2006, when Wellington couple Cushla and Richard Thurston purchased their mid-century home in Brooklyn, Wellington, they earmarked the flat, barren space at the rear of the property for an art studio. Six years later, tired of schlepping across town to use a

A multi-functional Nelson building by Tennent Brown Archictects

Depending on the owners’ needs, this flexible space provides an intriguing retreat for guests, as well as executive meetings Torea Studio, Nelson Architects: Tennent Brown Architects Floor area: 97m2 It is not technically a home but it sometimes functions as one. In fact, this 97-square-metre, three-bedroom building near Nelson by Hugh Tennent and Brenda Solon of Tennent Brown Architects, is deliberately multi-functional: it’s a workspace, a meeting room, a guesthouse, an executive retreat. Its owners (who first

Density done well: Wellington’s visionary Centennial flats

A visionary mid-century social housing project in Wellington stays relevant Centennial Flats Year: 1940 Location: Wellington Architect: Gordon Wilson Everything happens in cycles. Wellington’s Centennial Flats – designed by Ministry of Works architects under Gordon Wilson, and completed in 1940 – were the first block of multi-unit flats designed under the Labour government’s state housing scheme. “The housing problem is of such magnitude,” said a report in the Evening Post in 1938, discussing plans for the

A trio of apartments perched atop a 1906 Wellington warehouse

Wellington’s best apartments are stacked over three levels on top of an existing three-storey building; another example of density done well Wakefield Apartments Project Year: 2001 Location: Wellington Architects: Chris Kelly and James Fenton, Architecture Workshop Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, rooftops all over New Zealand were brutalised, as developers who realised a solid structure could hold a few more floors piled them on as cheaply as they could possibly manage. The former BNZ building (now a

Density done well: Wellington’s Wakefield apartments

In Wellington, a set of three intricately planned apartments that sit atop a hefty 1900s warehouse provide the ultimate example of density done well Wakefield Apartments project Year: 2001 Location: Wellington Architects: Chris Kelly and James Fenton, Architecture Workshop Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, rooftops all over New Zealand were brutalised, as developers who realised a solid structure could hold a few more floors piled them on as cheaply as they could possibly manage. The former BNZ

A 5mx5m Christchurch tower that wouldn’t be out of place in Japan

This unusual home and office in a conservative Christchurch neighbourhood pushes the design boundaries When a tall, thin, aluminium-clad tower rose between Christchurch’s Merivale post office and a supermarket, the locals were quietly astonished. It was built on the tiny five-metre by five-metre site of a former toilet block and its only windows faced south. It defied almost every expectation of what a New Zealand house should look like. Best of all, the supermarket sign metres

A tall, thin tower home in Christchurch poses a design challenge

This tiny tower was designed as a challenge: a chance to consider new forms of accommodation and new typologies within one of the most conservative inner-city suburbs of Christchurch Q&A with Thom Craig of Thom Craig Architects What has changed in building terms since the Christchurch earthquakes? The ground beneath our buildings is now of paramount importance. Prior to the earthquakes, this building would probably have sat on a thick, reinforced concrete pad but now,

These Freeman’s Bay townhouses are an example of density done well

A group of 1970s townhouses in Freeman’s Bay, Auckland, offer lessons in smart planning that most cities still seem to ignore These Freeman’s Bay townhouses are an example of density done well Year 1970s Location Auckland Architect Angus, Flood and Griffiths When the firm Angus, Flood and Griffiths designed this townhouse and its many neighbours in the early 1970s, with an elevated balcony looking out to the street, they probably didn’t imagine that the view would one day

A contemporary kitchen that’s comfortable and hardworking

A kitchen by IMO does heavy duty daily for an Auckland family Designer: IMO, in a home by Paterson Architecture Collective and Glamuzina Architects. Brief: For a family kitchen in a new home that opens easily to the outdoors. Q&A with owner Michelle Dowd What was the starting point for your kitchen’s overall aesthetic? We wanted the design to be sympathetic with the overall design of the house – functional, clean lines and a comfortable, hardworking kitchen. We walked

The brief for this ensuite was for an industrial edge

A generous ensuite with an industrial edge was the brief for this inner-city Auckland home, a finalist in 2016’s Home of the Year Awards Architects: Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell. Brief: To create an ensuite in keeping with the home’s industrial aesthetic. Q&A with architect Andrea Bell How difficult was it to achieve the melding of industrial-warehouse materiality? It was incredibly easy and something that really interests us – transforming a raw, rough industrial space into something

What looks like a simple kitchen design is anything but

A finalist in the Home of the Year 2016, this Auckland home makes kitchen design look simple. Architect Anthony Hoete explains the project… Architect: Anthony Hoete, WHAT_architecture Brief: London-based architect Anthony Hoete designed this home for his friends, engineers Michael Pervan and Amy Oding. Q&A with architect Anthony Hoete A finalist in the Home of the Year 2016, this home has a carefully calculated asymmetry. How does the kitchen fit in with that? The ‘Villameter’ is an

Industrial kitchen style: Q&A with architects Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell

An industrial-style kitchen fits right into this Auckland home designed by Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell Architect: Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell. Brief: A simple and robust kitchen in keeping with the industrial feel of the house. Q&A with architect Andrea Bell How did you choose the material palette? We wanted an industrial feel, so the benchtops are 6mm-thick mild steel. The cabinetry against the concrete wall is Trans-Tex, which is used on truck decks. It’s a rich,

Architect Henri Sayes discusses kitchen style on a budget

Although petite, this Auckland kitchen doesn’t scrimp on style. Architect Henri Sayes of Sayes Studio discusses how good kitchens don’t have to be large Architect Henri Sayes discusses kitchen style on a budget Architects: Sayes Studio. Brief: To maximise space within the 116-square-metre home. You designed this kitchen in your own compact home with an equally compact budget. How did you make it as good as you could? It’s a fallacy that a good kitchen has to

A special 1960s Sydney home with a Hollywood Hills vibe

New Zealanders Neha Belton and Tulia Wilson bring fresh new focus to their modernist Sydney pad [jwp-video n=”1″] When Neha Belton and Tulia Wilson found the house they wanted to buy in Woollahra, Sydney, after 18 months of searching, they had just discovered Tulia was pregnant with their second child. Having already looked at hundreds of beautiful yet predictable Victorian terrace houses, it was something of a surprise that the property they ended up

A modernist Sydney pad is reinvented by a young Kiwi couple

A young Sydney-based Kiwi family transformed the “worst house on the best street” in Sydney’s Woollahra into a stunning example of modern design [jwp-video n=”1″] Q & A with homeowner Tulia Wilson, designer and consultant Do you know who designed the home? We don’t – I searched plans and council archives but to no avail. We know it was built in 1965 and that this part of the street was opened up to The Sydney

This modern cottage in the Wakatipu Basin is the ideal rural retreat

A rural retreat in the Wakatipu Basin by Bureaux combines modernity with rusticity Design notebook, Q&A with architects Jessica Barter and Maggie Carroll This is the first project by your firm, Bureaux, that’s been published in HOME. How would you describe your approach? Jessica Barter We’re a six-year-old boutique firm that offers a complete service – we’re architects who can design a building and follow that through to interiors and furnishings, right down to linen

Wellington architect Jon Craig’s own home design becomes his lasting legacy

Wellington architect Jon Craig created his last home in a street dotted with his earlier designs, and infused it with a spirit of optimism for the years ahead. If only he could have enjoyed it for longer [jwp-video n=”1″] The curlicue tendrils of the creeper that edges up the perimeter wall of the last home Jon Craig designed soften the raw heft of the concrete block. To humanise the strong architectural idea was one of

Inside Julian Dashper’s fascinating Auckland studio

The late Julian Dashper’s fascinating Auckland studio, with its neat arrangements of art and ephemera, remains just as he left it when he died in 2009. Story Words by Mark Kirby I was moved when I first saw these photographs of my friend Julian Dashper’s suburban west Auckland studio. Julian, an acclaimed artist, died in 2009, but his partner, Marie Shannon, has changed little about the studio since. The immaculate arrangements of objects on tables are

Has rural New Zealand living ever looked this good?

A hilltop home by Fearon Hay in rural west Auckland balances heft and finesse [jwp-video n=”1″] In the rolling green foothills of the Waitakere ranges, where west Auckland’s suburbs transition into rainforest, is a new homestead by Fearon Hay Architects. It’s a large, rural home, combining luxurious texture and rugged utility, rustic comfort and subtle precision; where a young family grows their own vegetables, makes their own wine, and raises and slaughters their own livestock.

Designing a new life in Arrowtown

Built in an old orchard in Arrowtown, this family home of sharp angles and galvanised steel isn’t afraid to stand out from the crowd [jwp-video n=”1″] Q&A with architect Michael O’Sullivan of Bull O’Sullivan Architects Your first duty was to help your clients and friends, Tim and Ingrid, choose a site. Why this one? This was an old orchard for the township. I thought it was delightful. It had a lovely sense of composure, a lovely

A guest cottage nestled into the Remarkables range

Sydney-based architect Domenic Alvaro usually designs multi-storey apartment buildings in Sydney. But the techniques he’s applied in this small building can be easily adapted in those projects “The cost of apartments is getting higher so there’s pressure to keep affordable product on the market,” says Alvaro. This means finding ways to make smaller spaces seem more liveable or, as Alvaro puts it, “to improve your ability to live within the available space”. These lessons have

Confident new home build

A young couple re-imagines suburban back-section living with a compact optimistic new home Never mind it was in the suburbs. It wasn’t the possibility of a picket fence that drew Henri Sayes and Nicole Stock to a rundown 1940s cottage in Onehunga, not too far from Auckland’s Maungakiekie (One Tree Hill). It was the cottage’s large, flat, north-facing back lawn, 400-odd square metres on which to build a house. More particularly, it was a chance

This home sought to echo the barn-style buildings of rural New Zealand

A rural retreat in the Wakatipu Basin by Bureaux combines modernity with rusticity and pays homage to farm-style buildings from around New Zealand This home sought to echo the barn-style buildings of rural New Zealand There is comfort in classicism, a sense of relief in not striving for the new. Here in the middle of the Wakatipu Basin, about 20 minutes’ drive from Queenstown, an Auckland-based product designer wanted to create a home to

Family-friendly city living with an industrial edge

A finalist for 2016 Home of the Year and winner of Best City Home 2016, a new home in a tough semi-industrial neighbourhood brings family living to Auckland’s centre [jwp-video n=”1″] Family-friendly city living with an industrial edge Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell’s home is a magnificent challenge to the conventional notion that the city is no place for children. Bell and Kissell have created an enviable home for themselves and their kids Oscar, four, and

Coromandel corrugated iron home breaks with convention

Tucked away in a valley on the Coromandel Peninsula, the 2016 Home of the Year by Herbst Architects combines rusty allusions to local farm buildings with a proudly contemporary form. [jwp-video n=”1″] Coromandel corrugated iron home breaks with convention In some ways, it was an unusual brief. It asked for “humble and basic” home and expressed a desire for bunker-like solidity. Its location, on a small farm in a valley on the Coromandel Peninsula, meant

Living simply in a beautiful bach on Great Barrier

This compact bach by Fearon Hay was designed as a prototype for a flexible design that can be put down in a number of locations Architects Jeff Fearon and Tim Hay have designed a simple, compact bach concept “flexible enough,” Jeff says, “to put down in a number of spots” – not a moveable building, but a plan that was a little less site-specific than the bespoke landscape occupation of some of their other designs. Their first opportunity

A Great Barrier Island getaway by Fearon Hay

This simple compact bach designed by Fearon and Hay has a warm and nurturing interior, which is the ideal counterpoint to the bach’s wild and isolated location Architects Jeff Fearon and Tim Hay have had the luxury of designing a number of homes with expansive budgets and large floor plans. In recent years, however, they have nurtured a smaller-scale idea they yearned to put into practice: a simple, compact bach concept “flexible enough,” Jeff

An award-winning bach near Whangarei Heads

On a show-stopping site near the Whangarei Heads, Herbst Architects create a holiday home for a family of four that could house 30 people Design Notebook, Q&A with architects Nicola and Lance Herbst You had a prescribed building platform for this home on the ridge. How did you go about developing the design for it? Lance Herbst We made an early decision to separate the cars from the house. Nicola Herbst And we identified the journey, a 70-metre walk to

Wendy Shacklock designs a clifftop Waiheke home

A clifftop Waiheke location provided a fascinating challenge for architect Wendy Shacklock – to create a home that was both comforting and exciting It was a home that began with a name that sounds terribly romantic – Te Kohanga, the Maori word for nest – until you remember that nests are as precarious as they are protective, and prone to getting blown out of trees in the wind. But creating a balance of these

Interior designer Christopher Hall’s gorgeous London pad

New Zealand-born interior designer and furniture designer Christopher Hall’s petite London pad is decorated to perfection, and located just a few minutes’ walk from the Tate Modern on the Thames’ South Bank Interior designer Christopher Hall’s gorgeous London pad As a boy, Christopher Hall would walk his dog along Christchurch’s New Brighton beach and look across the ocean, dreaming of what might lie on the other side. Almost as soon as he finished high school,

This Auckland new-build is inspired by Californian modernism

Christchurch-based architect Nicholas Faith designs a home for a relatively small Auckland site that’s so robust, it’s basically bullet-proof This Auckland new-build is inspired by Californian modernism For an all-new home, this one was built for a relatively modest sum compared to the skyrocketing prices of its neighbours in this central Auckland suburb. Plus isn’t so large – about 190 square metres – it doesn’t have a garage and sits on a relatively modest 400-square-metre

New York-based New Zealander Debbi Gibbs’ prefab escape

Expat New Zealander Debbi Gibbs engaged Resolution: 4 Architecture to build a prefab pavilion on this special lakeside spot in New Jersey As much as the world loves to come to New York City, those who live here are constantly obsessing about how to escape. The answer can be closer to Manhattan than you’d expect. A decade or so ago, expatriate New Zealander Debbi Gibbs found a special lakeside spot in New Jersey for which, a

Concrete, cedar and ply combine in this Wanaka new-build

A Wanaka home designed by Wellington-based firm Lovell & O’Connell Architects is a bold, distinctive design on a street of nondescript houses Concrete, cedar and ply combine in this Wanaka new-build It is all very well to design homes with enormous budgets on spectacular sites, but architecture is in dire need of more prosaic locations. There are suburbs all over New Zealand where architecture barely makes an appearance, where even basic, age-old design lessons like the correct

A first-rate farmhouse designed by Andrew Patterson

This majestic ‘farmhouse’ designed by Andrew Patterson and his team on Annandale, a sheep and cattle station of approximately 4000 acres with more than 10 kilometres of coastline on the northern side of Banks Peninsula, will leave you breathless He has lived abroad for 35 years, but Mark Palmer never lost his connection with New Zealand. He grew up on a farm in the Bay of Plenty but left the country in his early twenties for the

An isolated yet beautiful stone bunker by Andrew Patterson

Discover this glamorous and romantic ‘studio’ made from concrete and stone on the Banks Peninsula designed by Andrew Patterson An isolated yet beautiful stone bunker by Andrew Patterson If this house looks familiar to a farmhouse on Banks Peninsula designed by Andrew Patterson , that’s because it was also designed by Patterson and his team. It’s just over a ridge from the farmhouse, and is also part of Annandale, a 4000-acre farm owned by Mark Palmer, a New Zealand businessman who

A lightweight holiday getaway by Herbst Architects

On a show-stopping site near the Whangarei Heads, Herbst Architects create a holiday home for a family of four that could house 30 people A lightweight holiday getaway by Herbst Architects Auckland-based architects Lance and Nicola Herbst have been experimenting with the best way to live in and feel connected to the New Zealand landscape and climate for 15 years. The application of their skill has resulted in a diverse range of responses, from their own bare-bones beach

A Whanganui house designed and built by recent graduates

Three enterprising youngsters throw in their desk jobs to design and build a house on a steep Whanganui hillside. Words by Nicole Stock. Photos by Paul McCredie. It reads likes something Enid Blyton would have written, had she substituted curious and adventurous children for curious and adventurous 20-something architecture graduates. Throwing in their desk-bound jobs, these three enterprising youngsters designed a small, thrifty and clever house on a steep Whanganui hillside, then built it themselves.

An elegant concrete and steel home by Daniel Marshall

This Remuera home by architect Daniel Marshall was a finalist in the Home of the Year Awards 2011 with its pared-back material palette of pre-cast concrete panels and steel beams Design Notebook Carefully arranging this home over many levels, architect Daniel Marshall‘s design leaves plenty of space for a wide, flat lawn for children to play on. Daniel Marshall likes to talk about architecture being “landscape abstracted”, which in the context of this Auckland home means

Home of the year judges )left to right) Jeremy Hansen, Tom Kundg and Stuart Gardyne.

Choosing the 2016 Home of the Year

From apartments in Wellington to rustic homes on the Coromandel, to luxurious harbourside abodes in Auckland. How do you choose a Home of the Year? This year HOME magazine’s Home of the Year award is celebrating its 21st anniversary (the award is sponsored by Altherm Window Systems). It’s never easy to choose a winner and the finalists in the award. Each year the process works like this: the magazine calls for entries from around the

Andrea, Andrew and their children on the home's staircase.

New Zealand’s best city home

Children should be raised in the suburbs? A new Auckland city home says “think again” [jwp-video n=”1″] It’s a widely held belief that children are best raised in the suburbs. But in a semi-industrial part of Auckland’s city fringe, architects Andrea Bell (who runs her own architecture firm, Bell & Co) and Andrew Kissell (an associate director at architecture firm Peddle Thorp) are disproving that belief with their own family home. (These photographs are

New Zealand’s best small home

See inside Home of the Year 2016 winner for Best Small Home that has us wanting to move in right away. [jwp-video n=”1″] HOME magazine’s Home of the Year awards are not only recognising the Supreme Winner by Herbst Architects, but great architecture in three other categories: Best Small Home, Best City Home, and Best Multi-Unit Project. The winner of the Best Small Home title is this stylish, sleek, 120-square-metre marvel near Queenstown by Anna-Marie Chin.

Home of the Year 2016: Iron Maiden

A Coromandel home clad in a skin of rusty recycled corrugated iron is the winner of the HOME magazine’s Home of the Year 2016, New Zealand’s richest architectural prize – and we have to admit we’re crazy about it. Iron Maiden: the 2016 Home of the Year Designed by husband-and-wife team Lance and Nicola Herbst of Auckland-based Herbst Architects (who receive a $15,000 cash prize thanks to award sponsors Altherm Window Systems), the home is

Home of the Year Awards sixth finalist: City fringe house by Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell

HOME magazine is announcing the winner of its Home of the Year award on Wednesday night. We’re already in love with the six finalists in the award, and don’t know how the jury managed to pick a winner. Here, HOME’s editor Jeremy Hansen talks us through one of the finalists, the City Fringe House by Andrea Bell and Andrew Kissell. [jwp-video n=”1″] Stay tuned over the next few days for the other finalists. We’ll be revealing the winner live

Home of the Year Awards fifth finalist: Zavos apartments by Parsonson Architects

HOME magazine is announcing the winner of its Home of the Year award on Wednesday night. We’re already in love with the six finalists in the award, and don’t know how the jury managed to pick a winner. Here, HOME’s editor Jeremy Hansen talks us through one of the finalists, the Zavos Apartments by Parsonson Architects. [jwp-video n=”1″] Stay tuned over the next few days for the other finalists. We’ll be revealing the winner live at

Home of the Year Awards fourth finalist: Tom’s House by Anna-Marie Chin

HOME magazine is announcing the winner of its Home of the Year award on Wednesday night. We’re already in love with the six finalists in the award, and don’t know how the jury managed to pick a winner. Here, HOME’s editor Jeremy Hansen talks us through one of the finalists, Tom’s House by Anna-Marie Chin. [jwp-video n=”1″] Stay tuned over the next few days for the other finalists. We’ll be revealing the winner live at 7.30pm Wednesday night. And thanks

Home of the Year Awards third finalist: Harbourside House by Stevens Lawsons Architects

HOME magazine is announcing the winner of its Home of the Year award on Wednesday night. We’re already in love with the six finalists in the award, and don’t know how the jury managed to pick a winner. Here, HOME’s editor Jeremy Hansen talks us through one of the finalists, the Harbourside House by Stevens Lawsons Architects. [jwp-video n=”1″] Stay tuned over the next few days for the other finalists. We’ll be revealing the winner live at 7.30pm