Landscapes

At the bay

On the shores of a secluded, sandy cove in Northland, this holiday home was devised to slowly recess into its natural surroundings.

Smart charge

Every year, more and more New Zealanders are handing over the keys to their petrol or diesel-powered vehicles in favour of EVs, but what does this mean for our household power bills, and what do we need to consider when it comes to choosing the right charger?

Under the coastal sun

This holiday home on the edge of the dunescape at Omaha, just north of Auckland, was redesigned to present a softer architectural face to the coast and reconnect the living spaces with the natural environment.

The solar effect

Clean, green energy has never been more accessible, and, when it comes to rooftop solar installations, the myriad benefits are hard to look past.

Poolside in the city

This contemporary villa renovation in central Auckland offers a joyous distinction between old and new, and a beautiful harmony of form, material, texture, and experience.

Tonal clarity

In the dunes of Te Ārai, this coastal retreat was designed with two aims: to make its presence known and to sit quietly with its back to the forest and its face to the sea.

Coastal high

This sculptural holiday home in Leigh is an artful arrangement of three buildings, an enclave of sorts, designed to accommodate various personalities and requirements.

Perfect summer

Embracing life outdoors has a new meaning, and it’s firmly centred around a beautifully streamlined range of bathing and kitchen products by ABI Interiors: the Sola Collection.

Bathe al fresco

In the heart of Hawke’s Bay is an artisan workshop garnering significant attention, and for good reason. Led by designer and craftsman Toby Payton, Raw Concrete Design specialises in handcrafted bespoke polished concrete products for residential and commercial settings.

Building green: The advantages of bamboo decking

In China, over six million hectares of bamboo are grown each year, providing the raw material for some of the world’s most sustainable and eco-friendly timber, which now finds its ideal application as decking.

Dappled light

On a small urban site, this striking addition to a character villa is grounded by the use of monolithic coloured concrete forms framing a lush private courtyard.

A modern pool house renovation utilises a classic Kiwi building material

For the owners of this Auckland property, the opportunity to make over their outdoor entertainment area meant they would be able to capitalise on the usability of the space and create a connection between old and new.  While all the elements were there–swimming pool, pool house and outdoor living–a lack of

The sky above

Taking the operable louvred roof to the next level, the latest innovation from Louvretec is the Retract Roof range — Opening Roofs that completely open or close at the touch of a button.

The plunge pool, redefined

Not quite a pool and not quite a spa, the Stoked Stainless Plunge Spa strikes a perfect balance between the two with a piece that embraces the art of relaxation outdoors.

Al fresco connection

Utilising the existing design language of a mid-century modern home in Remuera, Johnston Architects and Bespoke Interior Design set about redesigning a pool house and creating an outdoor room, resulting in a trio of interconnected areas spanning indoors and out.

The blue glow

On a suburban site in Auckland’s Kohimarama, a transparent-sided pool creates an immersive connection between an original villa and a pavilion-style pool house.

Float away

This New Zealand brand draws inspiration from the rewards and challenges of life by the sea: simple, relaxing and beautiful but rugged and unforgiving.

The geometry of motion

From bringing the indoors out, to cabinetry that spins to reveal its contents, Hettich is elevating interior and alfresco design options with its innovation in the mechanics of movement.

Wild landscapes

Sculptor Simon Max Bannister’s works carry a powerful essence, often becoming symbols of our relationship with the environment and the wildlife within it.

The pool

This pool house is a dichotomy of sorts — on a residential site, it is commercially proportioned — and meticulously considered as both a public and private facility.

Material connection

In a rural setting that feels far removed from the city on the outskirts of which it is located, this Auckland home unfolded over a decade or so.

The great outdoors

Heading into winter and missing those beautiful long summer evenings outdoors, it’s time to think about what alfresco dining will look like in 2024.

Winter oasis

There’s not much that beats enjoying the outdoors on winter evenings under a sheltered canopy. As the mercury drops, bring the indoors out with design-led alfresco living.

Taking the plunge

During a mountain bike ride about ten years ago, two mates got chatting. The result is a fresh – and entirely Kiwi – take on the hot tub.

City and sea

On the shores of Sydney Harbour, New Zealand–born Australian architect Richard Archer devised a home of connections with the water and city beyond

Off the grid

On a tiny island just off the coast of Whangarei Heads a small house does justice to its unique site, while requiring some adjustments to the typical modern lifestyle.

A truffiere, an olive grove, and a vineyard

On a striking piece of land that stretches out behind the 2021 Home of the Year above the Kawarau River, two Dunedin locals have achieved something spectacular – a sustainably farmed estate producing three very distinctive and highly desirable edibles.

Old trees new life: a unique Christchurch landscape

Concrete Copper House by South Architects enjoys a beautiful position beside the Waimairi Stream. To make the most of the site, the owners — with the help of Kamo Marsh Landscape Architects — created a unique garden.

Castle on the hill

On an elevated site between Christchurch and Governors Bay, architect Philip Kennedy envisioned a place of expansive outdoor living.

Mountain Hut

Nestled high in a wild alpine expanse, this renovated hut was devised as a place of retreat and connection for its city-dwelling owners.

Cities of villages

In Takapuna, the pace is slower than in other suburban centres in Auckland. There’s a leisurely, beach-like feel to it, especially on Hurstmere Road — the suburb’s shopping and eatery hub — where people and vehicles share the road.

Glacial retreat

On a remote station about halfway between Aoraki Mt Cook and Timaru, near Lake Tekapo, this prefabricated house was designed to settle effortlessly into a harsh landscape of snow and storms, and long, dry summers.

How to select the best outdoor heating

Whether it’s a cosy fire pit to sit around on long summer evenings, or a high performance woodburner to heat up the outdoors in the colder months, a myriad of ways exist to bring an outdoor space to life.

Garden rooms

Around this Christchurch home, which is raised above the ground to allow floodwaters to flow beneath it, an interconnected series of landscapes combines to create a striking aesthetic.

Soul serving

The move towards having organically farmed gardens sitting alongside hospitality venues is a growing trend in contemporary landscape architecture, where chefs and horticulturalists work hand in hand, planning menus based on what is growing in the garden.

Treescape

Tucked into the hillside in Abel Tasman National Park, this is a house designed for enjoyment of the area’s unique landscape.

Rocky outcrop

At the base of the Ben Ohau Range near Twizel stands a tiny cabin, secluded within a vast landscape.

Full circle

Hamilton Gardens is known the world over. It attracts more than a million visitors every year, with upwards of 5000 visitors a day

A matrix of amber and green

Mimicking the pared-back materiality of the architecture, a simple plant palette creates a sense of calm in this modern urban garden.

Enclosed haven: The courtyard house

Are they follies, small extravagances, or safe havens from the coastal whims? Melanie McDaid explores the courtyard house and some of its local iterations for clues

Out with the old

In Red Beach’s latest retirement village, the archetypal landscaping stalwart – the bowling green – has been thrown out in favour of a whole new philosophy for how seniors want to live out their retirement years.  Boffa Miskell landscape architect Emma Todd says Metlifecare were on board the new vision

Cruciform house

A spacious Mid-Century modern-inspired home in Orakei proves that you don’t need a huge amount of land to have four bedrooms and multiple living spaces, particularly when less than half of the home touches the ground.

Basalt on the senses

For a brutalist building that stands so four-square on its ground, this house is full of hidden delights.

Bridge over water

Sandii McDonald creates a beautiful rhythm in a Japanese-inspired landscape — based on plans that were first drawn in the 1970s by Sang Architects.

An iconic concrete home in Remuera gets the most incredible pool pavilion

Ermanno Cattaneo pays homage to the original architect of this Remuera home, Ron Sang, by designing this extraordinary pool pavilion Project Pool pavilion Designer Ermanno Cattaneo, Suzanne Turley Landscapes Location Remuera, Auckland When Ermanno Cattaneo arrived in New Zealand from Italy to take up a position at Suzanne Turley Landscapes,

This is how a boring and barren entryway became a lush garden

Faced with a narrow garden and dated exterior, James Walkinshaw of Xanthe White Design used some simple but effective ways to transform this Pt Chev home Project Garden of outdoor rooms Designer James Walkinshaw, Xanthe White Design Location Pt Chevalier, Auckland Talk us through the garden. The design utilises fresh,

This coastal garden made the most of its oddly shaped location

Landscape designer Phillip Smith created a coastal garden on a tricky piece of land jutting into the Waitematā Harbour that morphs and shifts, depending on the season and the whims of plants Here’s how this coastal garden made the most of its oddly shaped location Project: Coastal garden Landscape designer: Philip Smith,

This summer house was designed for entertaining with a view

The brief was simple: Build a summer house high on the hill, away from their perfectly proportioned house, to dine, relax and drink in the views This summer house was designed for entertaining with a view Project: The ‘Altana’ Architect: Tom Locke Location: Waimate North, Far North Brief: To build

A party cabana and sculptural pool fence to envy on summer days

A dated outdoor area received an elegant makeover. Now with a striking shelter, sculptural fence and outdoor speakers it’s the ultimate entertaining space A party cabana and sculptural pool fence to envy on summer days Project: Party cabana and pool Architects: Rogan Nash Location: Cox’s Bay, Auckland Brief: To rethink a dated outdoor space

A Northland pool lined in glossy black tiles

A Northland pool designed to be taken in day-long doses Pool fencing requirements often make you wonder if it’s worth even bothering with a pool, given that the need to make a body of water safe will also render it unsightly. But, given the right amount of space and design

A small Auckland backyard becomes a tropical paradise

Fearon Hay transforms a petite Auckland back yard into a summery paradise A small Auckland backyard becomes a tropical paradise Poorly designed pools can feel as if they’ve severed a back yard in two, a lose-lose situation that results in an unpleasant sense of constriction and very little of the

A pool and pavilion by Pattersons architects

A pool and pavilion by Pattersons on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula is a getaway all its own It is a modern pool in the grounds of a historic house. The location is Annandale, a sheep and cattle station on Canterbury’s Banks Peninsula with which regular readers of this magazine might be

Q&A with landscape designer Xanthe White

Xanthe White has won a clutch of landscape design awards and written two books, but she’s about to tackle a rather more personal project: her own garden. Xanthe, what makes a good garden now? It’s about relationships with the landscape and the person. The designer is a conduit between the

Piet Oudolf, garden, home

At home with the world’s most famous garden designer

He has become the most famous garden designer in the world, yet he still opens his own property to the public a few days a week in summer and is happy to show people around it personally [jwp-video n=”1″] At home with the world’s most famous garden designer Last August,