The Roots in Otara

August 6, 2012, 5:31 pm

The Roots, a new event in Auckland's Otara, was set up by architectural graduates Waikare Komene (below left) and Martin Leung-Wai (below right) to foster architectural engagment from Maori and Pacific Island high-school students. The students created architectural installations at Otara's Town Centre using traditional lashing techniques and thousands of recycled plastic bottles.

We speak to the duo in our current issue, but we couldn't fit in as many of photographer David Straight's great images as we wanted to, we decided to feature some extra shots here, along with the interview with Waikare and Martin. Congratulations to both of them for setting up such a successful event - we look forward to next year's version!

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HOME Why did you set up The Roots?

WAIKARE KOMENE The Roots was established through our passion to encourage young Maori and Pacific Island students to gain insight into architecture and think about pursuing it as a career. We held our first event recently, and want to develop it into an annual regional event.

MARTIN LEUNG-WAI We had 8000 plastic bottles and 32 students in the Otara Town Centre, and got the students to build structures out of bottles using the traditional techniques of weaving and lashing. The Roots is all about how knowing your roots or identity can help inform your architecture or any creative arts. We wanted the event to create community interaction and for the students to experience the design process.

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Above: One of the Otara installations, built by teams of students using traditional lashing techniques and recycled plastic bottles.

What got you guys interested in architecture in the first place?

MARTIN LEUNG-WAI Seeing prominent architecture projects in magazines and books in the Manukau Library attracted me. I was inspired by the works of Renzo Piano, Antoni Gaudi and Frank Gehry when I was in high school. From there I aimed to study architecture and travel to visit the buildings I saw in books and magazines.

WAIKARE KOMENE I became interested in architecture at Otahuhu College; as a youngster I really enjoyed the practicality and hands-on experience taught in workshop technology and graphics. I've always enjoyed sketching, drawing, designing and building - these skills have been a talent of mine.

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Architecture is more likely to be associated with central city areas and wealthy suburbs instead of Otara, where you work. How are you hoping to change that?

WAIKARE KOMENE Otara is not only the place where we work, but also where we grew up and continue to live today. Otara produces amazing talent: athletes, rugby and league stars, rappers, artists, bands, the mayor of Auckland and now, through us, architects and designers. Architecture allows people to relate to the environment we live in and also take a sense of ownership and pride.

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You can read more about Martin and Waikare's work on Martin's blog here and their firm Creative Native's website here.

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Richard Gardiner's Small Houses

August 7, 2012, 2:30 pm

≫ Next: Outtakes: The Onemana Bach by SGA Architects and Unitec students

≪ Previous: The Roots in Otara

In our current issue, Christchurch art teacher and model maker Richard Gardiner tells us how he helps people remember their earthquake-damaged homes by building beautiful models of them. Photographer Stephen Goodenough visited Richard's studio to see some of his work under construction, so we wanted to share some unpublished shots here, along with our Q+A with Richard.

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Richard Gardiner in his studio

HOME How did your Scaled Down project began?

RICHARD GARDINER Having taught art for a number of years, with design as my specialist subject, I've always had a keen interest in design and architecture, particularly domestic architecture in New Zealand. A few years ago, I made a model of our house, a 1927 one-and-a-half storey bungalow, and once friends and colleagues had seen it, a number wanted one of their own. as retirement loomed and demand increased, I set up Scaled down and left teaching for model-making.

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Lyttelton Police Station model

Have you been busier since the Christchurch earthquakes?

Soon after the major quake in February, I met someone whose house - a lovely Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design in Cranner Square - was ruined beyond repair, and he ordered a model to be made before demolition took place. Since then, there's been a fairly steady stream of people wanting something tangible as a memory of the place in which they invested so much of their lives.

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A model of a home in Cashmere, now under repair.

How do you thinks it helps people to have a model of a home they might have lost?

Nothing can replace a home lost suddenly and violently like that. Our homes reflect us and the lives we live in them - they carry our stamp on them and they contain memories, accumulated over decades. but if anything, a model, with the features we knew well, like the downpipes, the front door, the gas bottles and the cat flap, does provide a tangible reminder. It's something we can touch and relate to. a well-made model is also a piece of fine craftsmanship, which can be appreciated on another level too.

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What's it like living in Christchurch now? do you lament the loss of so many heritage buildings?

I was in the city today and to be honest, it's increasingly difficult to find your way in some areas because the gaps outnumber the buildings. The earthquakes were sudden, unannounced and deadly, but the loss of buildings seems to be a more staggered and gradual affair. The machines 'nibble' their way more deeply into the city each week, so despite the sad loss of many architectural icons, we are perhaps becoming dulled by it all.

You can see more images of Richard's work and contact him through his website at the link here.

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Outtakes: The Onemana Bach by SGA Architects and Unitec students

August 13, 2012, 3:42 pm

≫ Next: Under threat: The Lomas house, Hamilton

≪ Previous: Richard Gardiner's Small Houses

Our current issue features a short Q+A with architect Dave Strachan of SGA Architects, talking to him about his work with students at Unitec to design and build social housing in collaboration with Auckland's VisionWest.

This isn't the first time Dave and his students have worked together to build something remarkable - last year he and his team designed and built a thrifty bach at Onemana Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula that was a finalist in our 2012 Home of the Year award. (These photographs are by Simon Devitt).

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Dave and his students at Auckland’s Unitec School of Architecture were assisted on this project by architect Marshall Cook and builder John Cocks. As a result, all of these students can claim they will leave university with real-world architectural experience: as well as collaborating on the design of the bach, they built it at the Unitec campus before it was trucked to its site on the Coromandel Peninsula.

This is a good point at which to add context to Dave’s remark in our original article accompanying the Home of the Year issue. In it, we quoted Dave as making an unflattering remark about architects in general, but what he was really trying to say was that there is a perception that architects are regarded this way, and that the way students work with tradespeople in this exercise helps to close the gap between architects and the professionals they collaborate with. Our apologies to Dave for allowing this remark to run in the magazine in a way that made it seem like he was slagging off his own profession, when in reality he holds architects and architecture in the highest esteem.

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Above: Andrew Morrison relaxes on the deck in a cane-swing chair while Shiree and their daughters Rubie and Billie hang

out in the kitchen. Morgan Cronin from Cronin Kitchens advised the students on building the cabinetry.

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Above: The living room opens out to decks on both sides. Former Unitec student
Tim Webber designed the table to match the Morrisons' Ikea chairs.

Part of Dave’s mission in leading this project at Unitec is to encourage productive working relationships and good communication between these students when they graduate and the tradespeople they will work with on future architectural projects. Building the bach was a vital part of this process. The students, Dave says, might say, “oh, we just want a nice flat floor to go through there – well that’s wonderful, but how the hell do you do that, to document it and then build it? That makes it a useful part of architectural education”.

Dave was a builder before he became an architect and has the deepest of respect for both professions, as well as a keen awareness of how poor detailing and communication can compromise a project. “Design is what [students] are taught to do,” Dave says. “It’s what most schools of architecture focus on. But a lot of design decisions are made during documentation – everyone thinks it’s the boring bit, but really it’s very much about trying to keep the integrity of the design idea you had at the start.”

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Above: The ultimate in indoor/outdoor flow: a floor that continues almost seamlessly from the kitchen out to the deck.
The deck chairs, covered by Shiree, are from Nest.

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Above: A view of the dining area opening onto the second deck. In the background, the barbecue from
The BBQ Factory echoes the strobe-like effect from the slatted roof.

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Above: The barbecue deck is also the perfect place to relax in front of a little fire and watch the starry sky after sunset.

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Above: Billie and Rubie playing in the living area with the windows panels drawn back to enjoy the sun.
Below: Dave and some of the members of Studio 19, his student design team.

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Under threat: The Lomas house, Hamilton

August 13, 2012, 4:54 pm

≫ Next: Prints work by Karen Walker

≪ Previous: Outtakes: The Onemana Bach by SGA Architects and Unitec students

Hamiltonians, contact your city councillors! TVNZ is reporting that a 1955 Hamilton home designed by Peter Middleton (that we featured in our October/November 2010 issue) is under threat of demolition.

Paul McCredie did a beautiful job of photographing the building for us (Linda Tyler wrote about the house). It's in a lush garden that the late Heather Lomas, the home's owner, spent decades creating.

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The home won an Enduring Architecture Award from the New Zealand Institute of Architects earlier this year. Middleton was commissioned to design the house by Heather Lomas and her husband Alan. Heather (below) lived in the house until her death in March. The house was later sold to a neighbour by members of Heather's family.

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According to the TVNZ report, Waikato heritage consultant Ann McEwan "has called for the Lomas house on Lake Cres to be saved, and wants the Hamilton City Council to bend its district plan to save the 1950s building from demolition." You can read the TVNZ story here.

It's a vexed issue, this. The new owner of the house is, legally, perfectly entitled to demolish it. The Lomas house, like many great modernist buildings, falls into an unprotected grey zone, where these structures are often not considered worthy of heritage protection until it's too late.

Apart from the fact that we really like it, the Lomas house has genuine historical merit. It is believed to be Hamilton's first architecturally designed house, and represented a brave early experiment in open-plan living.

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In its citation for the home's Enduring Architecture award, the NZ Institute of Architects said:

The Lomas House is a fine building and also an inspiring architectural story. Designed for a young family in the 1950s, at a time when materials were rationed but optimism was far more plentiful, the house has gracefully kept pace with that family’s life for more than half a century. Frugal, but never mean with its spatial allocation, the house on its well-positioned site is cleverly and subtly arranged around the framework of a simple grid. Over the years, it has settled into a companionate relationship with the relaxed and unfussy garden. Inhabited beautifully, altered little, and maintained with care, the house is a case study in the lasting benefits of a sympathetic relationship between clients and Architect.

Much of this inventiveness is evident in the home's careful planning, with level changes and sliding walls creating a greater sense of space in the living area.

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In the TVNZ story, Ann McEwan suggests the Hamilton City Council should break its district plan rules to ensure the preservation of the house. The council says it hasn't received any demolition order for the building as yet.

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Prints work by Karen Walker

August 15, 2012, 4:58 pm

≫ Next: We like: Wellington's Six Barrel Soda Co.

≪ Previous: Under threat: The Lomas house, Hamilton

Fashion designer Karen Walker's latest move is into homeware, specifically a collaboration with the Australian department store Myer to produce a new range of homeware using popular prints. Here's our Q+A with Karen from our current issue, along with some extra images from her homeware range. A word of warning before you get too purchase-ready - while the towels are available in Karen Walker stores, the rest of the range is available only in Myer's Australian stores (and they don't sell online at the moment).

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Karen Walker

HOME You've already developed Karen Walker paint, jewellery and eyewear. Why homeware?

KAREN WALKER We've been interested in developing homeware for some time, and the opportunity came along to create a line in partnership with the right people [Australian department store Myer] at the right time. We've been working with Myer for years, and they approached us to bring our look into homeware.

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The images on these mugs also feature in Karen Walker's jewellery collection

How did you choose which prints to use?

After showing internationally for 20 seasons, we've built up quite an extensive archive of prints, which is where we looked first when creating graphics for bed linen, towels and so on. We made a selection of prints for each category and played around with color and sizing, then sampled what we liked and narrowed it down from there. There are many prints in our archive that we're constantly reworking and reissuing in different ways, whether it be fabric print, fine jewellery or eyewear. Much within our archive has become iconic for us and is reinvented again and again. Homeware gave us another area in which to explore this. We'll be creating new homeware ranges every six months, and they'll always have print and colour as their starting point.

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This range of beach towels will be available in Karen Walker's New Zealand boutiques from spring

When will New Zealand shoppers be able to get their hands on the goods?

The beach towels will be in Karen Walker stores here in spring. The rest of the range can be purchased at Myer's Australian stores from August.

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The homeware range also includes these bed linens

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We like: Wellington's Six Barrel Soda Co.

August 20, 2012, 2:00 pm

≫ Next: NZ's Architecture van Brandenburg in China

≪ Previous: Prints work by Karen Walker

In our current issue, we visit Six Barrel Soda Co in Wellington's Dixon Street. The cafe was also designed to sell delicious soda made on the spot, in a space masterminded by Matt Smith of Wellington design firm Common. Here's Juliette Wanty's interview with Matt and some more of Russell Kleyn's photographs of one of our favourite new spots in the capital.

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Designer Matt Smith of Common

HOME What was the brief for this job?

MATT SMITH We wanted to create a space that could function primarily for the production of soda syrups and secondly as a cafe. The existing space [the former home of Eva Dixon's cafe] had a history of failed cafes and restaurants. We first gutted the space, removing any trace of past ventures, and unified the seating and kitchen areas by removing all internal walls and running the cork-tile floor through the entire space. We also ran a peg rail the length of the space to display items, hold customers' coats and bags, and hang utensils and baskets of fruit in the kitchen. The large central table was positioned so that customers look down the length of the table to the kitchen. A quarter of the table is utilised as the service area, so that customers are engaged with the cocktail-like making and presentation of the sodas.

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Customers are able to view the production process in action.

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You designed [with Caspian Ievers] the logo and labelling system before embarking on the design of this space. How did you want the space to feel?

Soda bars first conjure up images of Americana, red vinyl, chrome and jukeboxes. We wanted to avoid this and focus on the freshness and quality of the ingredients, and the honesty of the production method. The colours are light and fresh yellow and green. We brought elements of the branding across, most notably Hugo Mathias' illustrations from the labels on the chalkboard wall, while avoiding creating a space that was too branded. The materials are good-quality and durable: cork, american ash and red brick. The almost-primary-school aesthetic of Six Barrel Soda Co - with its cork tiles, chalkboard, peg rail and stamps for labelling - is accidental, but often reminds people of their first encounter with sodas or 'pop'.

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Labels are hung on the wooden peg rail that plays both a decorative and functional role in the space.

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What has the response been like so far?

People seem to love it. It's been referred to as the most Instagram-able cafe in Wellington!

Six Barrel Soda Co Factory Cafe

Level 1, 33-35 Dixon Street, Wellington

www.sixbarrelsoda.co

See more of Matt Smith's work at
www.commongoods.co.nz

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NZ's Architecture van Brandenburg in China

August 22, 2012, 2:00 pm

≫ Next: Our new cover

≪ Previous: We like: Wellington's Six Barrel Soda Co.

In our current issue, we feature the remarkable story of architect Fred van Brandenburg and his son Damien of Architecture van Brandenburg, who are designing the new Shenzhen headquarters of Marisfrolg, one of China's biggest fashion labels. Below is a shot of the first stage of the building under construction. (It's expected to be completed in three years).

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The inspiration for the building's organic forms come from none other than the late Antoni Gaudi, designer of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia cathedral. Fred, who has designed luxury lodges including Huka Lodge and Wharekauhau, decided after seeing Gaudi's buildings that he wanted to make a complete change in the way he designed buildings. "I decided I was going to do sculptural architecture by adapting philosophies [Gaudi] espoused and applying them to contemporary architecture," he says.

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Above: An image from a recent advertising campaign by Marisfrolg, using the headquarters' partially completed structure as a backdrop.

The Marisfrolg headquarters job came about after the company's owners visited Fred's office in Lake Hayes, Central Otago, after staying in some of his lodge designs. He told them he was no longer interested in designing that type of building, and they said they would be in touch. About a year and a half later they did so, asking him to come and see their site in Shenzhen in southern China. Fred couldn't remember them, but their seriousness and the scale of the project got his attention: 75,000 square metres, including a catwalk and function area for launching collections, design offices, manufacturing and warehousing and a 50-room boutique hotel for the label's clients. Through their intepreter, Marisfrolg's owners asked for the building to be soaring but unostentatious. "I then realised this was going to be big" said Fred. The final direction was "Design first, budget second."

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Above and below: Conceptual models of the Marisfrolg building, inspired by Fred's newfound love of organic forms.

As part of their (very loose) brief, Marisfrolg's owners showed Fred a video of a recent Marisfrolg collection with images of birds in flight and autumnal scenes. "I explained that I was inspired by forms found in nature and it all gelled very quickly," Fred says. Damien had just graduated in architecture from Auckland's Unitec, and moved to Dunedin to work on the project full-time (the duo set up an office there because of its proximity to the "brains trust" of 3D-modelling experts at Otago Polytechnic).

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Above: More views of models of the complex in Architecture van Brandenburg's Dunedin office,
the two colour images photographed by Graham Warman. Damien van Brandenburg is in the shot above.

Fred and Damien have never been told the budget of the project, but nor have their clients ever wavered in their commitment to fulfilling their architect's vision. They're already talking about potential projects with other Chinese developers, but for the moment, Fred says the main focus is on successfully completing the Marisfrolg headquarters. "There are people who are interested in us in China but you can imagine they're reticent and seeing how things pan out [with this project] he says. Once it is, you can easily imagine plenty more attention coming the van Brandenburgs' way.

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Our new cover

September 30, 2012, 3:10 pm

≫ Next: NZ Institute of Architects awards - Auckland winners

≪ Previous: NZ's Architecture van Brandenburg in China

Our new cover is on newsstands today - the beautifully crafted home on it is by Michael O'Sullivan, the photograph is by Emily Andrews, and the shot was styled by Yvette Jay.

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Inside the issue is an abundance of great stuff, including homes by Wellington's Tennent + Brown Architects, Atelierworkshop, Christchurch's Wilson & Hill and Auckland's Andrew Patterson, as well as our former art director Miranda Dempster's New York apartment and a beautiful cabin built by expat New Zealander Adrian van Schie in New York State's Adirondacks Mountains.

Also! We present our biannual bathroom design focus, travel to six chic global destinations, design writer Douglas Lloyd Jenkins tells a tale of the rebirth of a sleek mid-century hotel in Putaruru, we feature Kate Sylvester and Douglas + Bec's new furniture range, and much more.

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NZ Institute of Architects awards - Auckland winners

October 9, 2012, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Meet the Architects: Auckland, October 31

≪ Previous: Our new cover

The awards season for the NZ Institute of Architects' regional awards is beginning, with the announcement of the Auckland winners on Wednesday night. Winners from these regional awards will go forward for contention in the NZ Architecture Awards, which will be announced next year. Here, we've included a photograph of each of the Auckland winners. Our congratulations to all of them.

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Jasmax won an award for its work at the University of Auckland's Grafton Campus (above), including the design of the new Boyle building and the refurbishment of three other existing buildings.Photo by Tod Wilson.

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Also in the education category, ASC Architects were recognised for the BLENZZ campus redevelopment (above) in Manurewa.Photo by Michael Ng.

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Williams Architects were given a regional award for their expansion and renovation of the Blum showroom in Avondale.

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Cheshire Architects in association with Assembly Architects received an award for the design of the Britomart Showcases, the stores in the Britomart precinct (above). Photo by Jeremy Toth.

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The Broadcast Tower at North Harbour Stadium by Copeland Associates received an award in the small project category.

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A clever reworking of a former State House in the suburb of Westmere by CCM Architects (above) received an award in the 'Housing' category. Watch out for this house in one of our upcoming issues. Photo by Simon Devitt.

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Also in the housing category is this house (above) in the suburb of Cox's Bay by McKinney + Windeatt Architects (you may remember us featuring architect Jack McKinney's own house, a winner in last year's awards, in our June/July issue). Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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One of our favourite Auckland eateries, Depot (above, featured in our October/November 2011 issue), received an interior architecture award for its designers, C Nott Architects. Photo by Florence Noble.

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Geyser (above), the new commercial building in the Auckland suburb of Parnell by Patterson Associates, received a commercial architecture award. Come and join us there for our Meet the Architects event on October 31 - information in you current issue, and will also be posted here very soon! Photo by Simon Devitt.

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This renovation (above) by Strachan Group Architects received a residential award. It was published in our October/November 2009 issue. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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Three-time Home of the Year award winners Stevens Lawson Architects also won a residential award for this house on Waiheke Island (above). Photo by Mark Smith.

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Another residential award-winner (above): this is house by Sumich Chaplin Architects.

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Jack Tar (above), a pub on Auckland's North Wharf by Architecture HDT, won a heritage award (the photo is by Jenny Trevelyan), while Architectus won a planning and urban design award for their work on North Wharf's Karanga Plaza and Kiosk (below). Photo by Jeff Brass and Andy Chong.

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Cheshire Architects won an award in the education category for their work on the Leigh Marine Centre (above). Photo by Jeremy Toth. Also in the education category, Jasmax picked up an award for the Performing Arts Centre at Massey High School (below). Photo by Kenneth Li.

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More from Cheshire Architects, this time an interior award for their design of Britomart's Mexico Restaurant & Tequila Bar (above). Photo by Jeremy Toth.

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Scarlet Architects won a residential award for this bach (above) on the Kaipara Harbour (to be seen in one of our upcoming issues). Photo by Simon Devitt.

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More Cheshire Architects! This time, a public architecture award for Q Theatre (above). Photo by Jeremy Toth.

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Many of you will recognise this house (above) by Glamuzina Paterson Architects, which featured in our June/July issue and picked up an NZIA residential award. Photo by Emily Andrews.

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The lovely School of Music at the University of Auckland by Hill Manning Mitchell Architects (above) received an enduring architecture award.

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Architectus received an award in the education category for this building (above), a performing arts centre at St Cuthbert's College. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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Fearon Hay Architects won a residential award for this cottage on Great Barrier Island, which was featured in our December/January 2012 issue. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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The Cloud (above), on Auckland's Queen's Wharf, designed by Jasmax, won a public architecture award. Photo by Kenneth Li, Jonny David & Euan Cafe.

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Andrew Lister won an interior architecture award for his work at The Grill restaurant (above), which featured in our December/January 2012 issue. Photo by Simon Devitt.

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Fearon Hay Architects picked up a heritage award for their work at Auckland's Imperial Buildings (above). Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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Last but not least, a house on the North Shore by Stevens Lawson Architects (above) won a residential award. Photo by Mark Smith.

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Meet the Architects: Auckland, October 31

October 11, 2012, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: The Adirondacks - a small-world story

≪ Previous: NZ Institute of Architects awards - Auckland winners

We'd like to invite you to our special 'Meet the Architects' evening we're holding in conjunction with our Home of the Year partners Altherm Window Systems in Auckland on Wednesday October 31st (yes, we know it's Halloween; no, the architects won't be spooky).

The details:

MEET THE ARCHITECTS
6PM-7.30PM, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 31
GEYSER, 105 PARNELL ROAD, AUCKLAND

Entry is free, but please register to attend by emailing Gabrielle Lourens at glourens@acpmedia.co.nz

We'll serve drinks at 6pm, then you'll be able to hear HOME editor Jeremy Hansen in conversation with the following excellent architects, who will talk about recent and future projects. The whole event will be a little over an hour long, is open to everyone. It promises to be a fascinating evening.

1. ANDREW PATTERSON, PATTERSON ASSOCIATES
Andrew has won more architectural awards than we can count, including one for the amazing Mai Mai house (on p.84 of our current issue) and another for Geyser, the Parnell building where we're holding our event (below, photographed by Simon Devitt).

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2. DAVE STRACHAN, STRACHAN GROUP ARCHITECTS
Dave is an accomplished architect, former builder, and teacher at Auckland's Unitec, where the bach he created in collaboration with last year's architecture students was a finalist in our 2012 Home of the Year award (below, photographed by Simon Devitt). He'll talk about this year's student project (a social housing initiative) plus a number of the other fascinating projects and beautiful homes his firm has under development.

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3. LANCE AND NICOLA HERBST, HERBST ARCHITECTS

The husband-and-wife architecture team will talk about the development of 'Under Pohutukawa', the unforgettable 2012 Home of the Year (below, photographed by Patrick Reynolds), as well as their approach to light, space and craft.

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Please join us for what we know is going to be a fantastic event. We look forward to seeing you there.

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The Adirondacks - a small-world story

October 15, 2012, 4:05 pm

≫ Next: NZ Institute of Architects Nelson/Marlborough awards

≪ Previous: Meet the Architects: Auckland, October 31

How's this for a charming small-world story? This week we received an email from Christina Kaiser, an expat American who has been living in New Zealand for the last 13 years. Christina wrote to us because she remembers hiking, and skiing and camping beside Raquette Lake in New York State's Adirondacks Mountains, the same location as the beautiful cabin photographed by Emily Andrews in our current issue.

(To jog your memories, here's one of Emily's photographs featuring expat New Zealander Adrian van Schie, who designed and built the cabin, and his sons Huck and Tana. Alexandra Perce, Adrian's wife and the boys' mother, is just out of frame).

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Christina Kaiser's connection to the Adirondacks and Raquette Lake runs deeper than the aforementioned childhood memories: her father, architecture professor Harvey Kaiser, wrote The Great Camps of the Adirondacks, probably the definitive tome on this important aspect of the area's history. In the mid-1800s, wealthy families from New York would come upstate for the summer and stay in tents or compounds made up of structures that, even when they became elaborate, still aspired to a type of rusticity. (Adrian and Alexandra's cabin shown above was built recently, but it emulates the rusticity of the buildings in the Great Camps nearby.)

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Christina writes:

[Dad's] book helped popularise the term 'great camp' and drew an incredible amount of attention to these historic places and their need for preservation. Without planning it, he became an expert on the great camps and local celebrity in the largest state park in the country. Thirty years later, he is still regularly asked to give talks about the great camps.

Sam Eichblatt's story for us touches on the way preservation efforts of the camps were galvanised in the mid-1970s. Harvey Kaiser's important role in these efforts came about almost accidentally, Christina writes:

When Syracuse University announced plans to sell Camp Sagamore, my dad was an architecture professor and a Senior Vice President at the university. According to him, he "turned up at the auction in September 1976 and while standing there, as an Adirondack novice from Brooklyn, wondered who built the place, why did they build it out of logs down this 5-mile road from the nearest highway, and so on. When I couldn't find any answers in print - virtually zero was ever published about the camps - I decided there should be some advocacy voice to bring to the public's attention these rustic architecture masterpieces. So I researched, wrote, took pictures, and found a good publisher."

The rest is history, as 40,000 copies of the book are in print, and the preservation efforts it helped inspire have ensured many of the camps have survived. We're delighted Christina got in touch, and that our story prompted this connection with Harvey. We're looking forward to the new edition of his book (due in late 2014 or early 2015), and we applaud the way his work turned out to be instrumental in preserving the unique buildings of this area. We'll end this post with a photo Christina sent us of her and Harvey at a signing of the book at Lake Placid 1982 or 1983.

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NZ Institute of Architects Nelson/Marlborough awards

October 17, 2012, 3:09 pm

≫ Next: Canterbury's NZ Institute of Architects' awards

≪ Previous: The Adirondacks - a small-world story

The New Zealand Institute of Architects' awards season is now in full swing, with another fine batch of buildings being recognised in the institute's Nelson/Marlborough Architecture Awards. First up, something you will have seen in our December/January 2012 issue: the Brancott Estate Heritage Centre (below) by Fearon Hay Architects, a winner in the commercial architecture category. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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Cloudy Bay's The Shack (below), by Tim Greer and Paul Rolfe, also picked up an award in the commercial architecture category, and was featured in our August/September issue. Photo by Mike Rolfe.
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This holiday home (below) by Min Hall and Arthouse Architects won an award in the residential category, and will be featured in our next issue.

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A home by Redbox Architects (below) also won a residential award. Photo by Elspeth Collier.

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Wellington's Tennent + Brown Architects picked up two residential awards for homes in the Nelson/Marlborough region, the first for this house in Okiwa Bay (below, photo by Marina Mathews) and the second for the Waiwhero farmhouse (two below, photo by Jason Rothenberg), which is featured in our current issue.

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There were two winners in the Enduring Architecture category. The first is a 1961 house by Ernst Plischke, photographed by Patrick Reynolds.

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The second Enduring Architecture winner in the region is photographer and publisher Craig Potton's house (below), designed by Hal Wagstaff and photographed by Paul McCredie for our February/March 2011 issue.

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Another winner in the residential category: this house (below) by Guy Herschell Architects.

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Wellington's Parsonson Architects picked up a residential award for this house in the Wairau Valley (below). Look out for it in one of our upcoming issues. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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This house (below) by Palmer & Palmer Architects picked up a residential award.

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The Saxton Pavilion (below) by Arthouse Architects picked up a Public Architecture award. Photo by Oliver Weber.

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And finally, Arthouse Architecture picked up a third award (this time for sustainability) for their Victory Primary School redevelopment (below).

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Canterbury's NZ Institute of Architects' awards

October 17, 2012, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: On film: Our summer issue

≪ Previous: NZ Institute of Architects Nelson/Marlborough awards

The winners have been announced at the NZ Institute of Architects Awards for the Canterbury region, and one building in particular has won big: Athfield Architects' conversion and redesign of the Christchurch Civic Council Offices and Chambers (both images below) won awards in the categories of Public Architecture, Sustainable Architecture, Interior Architecture, Planning and Urban Design (for its connections with surrounding buildings and the streetscape). Incidentally, New Zealand Green Building Council chief executive Alex Cutler chose it as her favourite building in our current issue.

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RTA Studio's Black Estate winery at Waipara (below) won a Commercial Architecture award. Photo by Stephen Goodenough.

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This one's in our current issue: Chris Wilson of Wilson & Hill's own family home, winner of a residential award. Photo by Stephen Goodenough.

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This house in Fendalton (below) by Sheppard + Rout Architects also picked up a residential award. Photo by Diederik van Heyningen.

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The Buchan Group's Re:START container shopping precinct (below) won an award in the Planning & Urban Design category. It also won a Resene Colour Award. Photo by Murray Hedwig.

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Modern Architecture Partners won a residential award for this house in the Redcliffs area (below). Photo by Lisa Gane.

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Christchurch's Court Theatre by Fulton Ross Team Architects (below) won a Public Architecture award.

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Finally, another residential award for Wilson & Hill Architects for the prefabricated Smart House (below). Photo by Stephen Goodenough.

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On film: Our summer issue

November 6, 2012, 12:42 pm

≫ Next: Sponsored post: Karndean Designflooring

≪ Previous: Canterbury's NZ Institute of Architects' awards

We've made a short web film to promote our upcoming Summer issue, which we're really excited about. It's partly conceived as an enticement to potential advertisers, but we're really pleased with it, so we thought you guys might enjoy watching it too.

Thanks to photographer Toaki Okano and stylist Amelia Holmes for letting us crash their shoot, and also to Dean, Sarah and the team at Inhouse Design for doing such a lovely job of making the short.

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Our new cover

December 3, 2012, 12:49 pm

≫ Next: Outtakes: Hut on Sleds by Ken Crosson

≪ Previous: Sponsored post: Karndean Designflooring

Our new cover features a photo by Paul McCredie of a holiday home by Assembly Architects at Waipatiki Beach in Hawke's Bay. In the pic architect Louise Wright, who designed the home with her architect husband Justin Wright, relaxes on the window seat. The home is one of seven beautiful summer getaways in this issue, which is on newsstands now.

You'll note on this cover that we've initiated a little design tweak, cropping the image in a way that we think makes the masthead really pop and adds a greater degree of clarity to the cover (as well as providing a contrast to the dominance of full-bleed images on the newsstand). We're also using a smart new headline font, Eames Century Modern, inspired by the stencils of Charles & Ray Eames and created by US type firm House Industries.

We're really pleased with how this issue has turned out. We hope it provides you with hours of happy summer reading.

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Outtakes: Hut on Sleds by Ken Crosson

December 4, 2012, 5:35 pm

≫ Next: Christmas greetings

≪ Previous: Our new cover

In our April/May issue, we introduced you to a tiny house, "Hut on Sleds" on the Coromandel Peninsula at Whangapoua Beach designed by Ken Crosson(below). This diminutive, charming holiday home was a finalist in our Home of the Year award 2012, and subsequently shortlisted in the World Architecture Festival's awards. It is such a cleverly built and elegant bach that we wanted to show you more of Jackie Meiring's terrific photographs of it.

"It had to be a de-mountable house," explains Ken, required by the council because it is located within an erosion zone on the Coromandel coast. Measuring a mere 40 square metres, the house rests on two thick wooden 'sleds' that allows it to be dragged anywhere once uncoupled from power and wastewater and untied from the concrete pads beneath the sleds. It lends an entirely different meaning to the idea of moving house.

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The bach has been designed to close up against elements: with doors and shutters closed (as in the photo above) it is truly hermetic to rain and wind gusts. But when the sun is shining, the house opens up to let the outside in (below).

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Beyond the demands of its setting, the bach had to fit its clients' desires as well. "It was all about examining what was the real essence of a bach versus a beach house," says Ken. "They wanted something small and experiental. It's tiny, so the challenge was to make it as bachy as possible, and not waste any space in doing that."

That's why there's an intentionally enforced proximity imposed on its occupants : a compact front living and kitchen area flows through a rear bunkroom for the owners' three young children, and the main bedroom is up a ladder from the living room, sharing the same view as downstairs through the huge glass doors.

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In the main bedroom (above), there are warm shades of macrocarpa joinery and a remarkable attention to storage detail. Downstairs, each of the childrens' beds (below) has their own storage spaces ("secret cubby holes" says Ken), their own lights and windows. The walls themselves double as floor-to-ceiling shelf space that Ken hopes will accumulate the personal histories of the occupants.

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The ladder you use to reach the main bedroom also brings you to the roof terrace, which catches rainwater for the gravity tanks behind (below), and affords great views of the beach and the sunsets.

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Inside, there are intentional references made by Ken and his clients to the campground, such as the deliberately rudimentary tap and shower fittings. As Ken says: "You know, where you fill your bucket. It's that kind of idea"

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To one side, a second entrance to the house via the shower and bathroom, allows occupants to shower straight away after going to the beach (below).

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"It's kind of like a tent," says Ken about the bach's structure. "It's dramatic and vertical. The tent flap [the huge macrocarpa front shutter] is that big door that opens up - a big gesture that embraces the view."

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Christmas greetings

December 9, 2012, 7:55 pm

≫ Next: NZIA Wellington architecture awards

≪ Previous: Outtakes: Hut on Sleds by Ken Crosson

Christmas greetings from us to you - we hope you like our e-card this year, an image art-directed by Katie Lockhart and photographed by Darryl Ward (and laid out here by our senior designer Sarah Conder).

We don't finish work until the 21st, but we've put this image up on the blog now because we've been finding its serene mood helpful in coping with pre-Christmas chaos. We hope you do, too.

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NZIA Wellington architecture awards

December 9, 2012, 9:30 pm

≫ Next: Cathleen McGuigan visits New Zealand

≪ Previous: Christmas greetings

Our apologies - we started out diligently posting the results of the regional NZ Institute of Architects awards, but what with our recent print deadline and a few blog image-capacity issues, we've fallen behind. In the spirit of being better late than never, we now present to you the winners of the NZ Institute of Architects Wellington Architecture Awards, in no particular order. (The New Zealand Architecture Awards are selected from the regional categories and awarded in the first half of next year).

The first winner (in the Public Architecture category) is the ASB Sports Centre in Kilbirnie (below), designed by Tennent + Brown. The photo is by Paul McCredie.

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McKenzie Higham Architecture picked up awards in the Sustainable Architecture and Education categories for their work at Amesbury School (below). The photo is by Kate Whitley.

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Warren & Mahoney's refurbishment of the BRANZ building in Porirua (below) also picked up a Sustainable Architecture award and an award in the Commercial category. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The Carteron Events Centre (below) by Opus Architecture picked up a Public Architecture Award. Photo by Mike Heyden.

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The refurbishment of the Chevening Apartment Building in Kelburn (below) won a Heritage award for Studio of Pacific Architecture. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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In the housing category, Tennent + Brown picked up an award for this house (below) overlooking Cook Strait in Island Bay. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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Studio of Pacific Architecture also featured among the housing awards with this home (below) in Eastbourne, photographed by Patrick Reynolds.

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The new(ish) bar and cinemas on the lower level of the Embassy Theatre (below) won a Heritage award for Designgroup Stapleton Elliott and Indyk Architects. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The Kumutoto Toilets at North Queens Wharf (below) won a Public Architecture award for Studio Pacific Architects.

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This holiday home at Paekakariki (below, which many of you will recognise from our October/November issue) won a Housing award for Atelierworkshop. Photo by John Girdlestone.

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The Maidstone Intermediate School Information Centre (below) by Jasmax won an award in the Education category. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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Architect James Fenton's studio (below) in front of his home in the suburb of Northland won an award in the Small Project category. Photo by Patrick Reynolds.

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This home (below) by Alistair Luke and Ana O'Connell of Jasmax won awards in the Housing and Sustainable Architecture categories. It was also a finalist in our 2012 Home of the Year award. The photo is by Paul McCredie.

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Another Education category winner: the Porirua College redevelopment (below) by Opus Architecture. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The Rangimarie house (below) by Architecture FCA won awards in the Housing and Sustainable Architecture categories. Photo by Sarah Gaitanos.

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The Regent Park Apartments (below), designed by Designgroup Stapleton Elliott for City Housing WCC, also won an award in the Housing category. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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Another housing award went to this house at Plimmerton (below) by Middleton & Novak. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The Soltius headquarters (below) won an Interior Architecture for Herriot + Melhuish. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The development of the Xero headquarters (above and below) won awards in the Heritage and Interior Architecture categories for Studio of Pacific Architecture. Photos by Patrick Reynolds.

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Warren & Mahoney and Geyer picked up an award for Interior Architecture for their fit-out of Telecom Central (below). Photo by Paul McCredie.

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Architecture + won a Commercial Architecture award for the Telecom Central building (below) in Willis Street. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The Wellington Fireplace store (below) in Kaiwharawhara won an Interior Architecture award for John Mills Architects. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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At Victoria University of Wellington, the refurbishment of the Hugh Mackenzie Building Lecture Theatre (below) won an award in the Education category for Tennent + Brown Architects. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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Back to the Housing category now, where a holiday home by Parsonson Architects (below) that featured in our December/January 2012 issue won an award. Photo by Paul McCredie.

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The Wellington Zoo Hub and Kamalas Pavilion (below) by Assembly Architects won a Public Architecture award. Photo by Mike Heyden.

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And, finally, in the Interior Architecture category, Jasmax won an award for their fitout of Z Energy's offices (below). Photo by Tod Wilson.

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Cathleen McGuigan visits New Zealand

January 30, 2013, 8:04 pm

≫ Next: The Art Issue: our new cover

≪ Previous: NZIA Wellington architecture awards

We're delighted to announce that this year's Home of the Year lectures will be given by Cathleen McGuigan, the New York-based editor in chief of Architectural Record magazine, the most important architecture magazine in the US.

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Cathleen is giving talks in Auckland (on February 19) and Christchurch (on February 21) on the topic of New American Urbanism - how architects are rejuvenating US cities, and what New Zealand can learn from them.

Cathleen will be in conversation with HOME editor Jeremy Hansen, and will show a number of ingenious urban developments from a range of US cities. Please come along, as it's going to be a great and stimulating talk.

Cathleen is visiting as the international member of our Home of the Year 2013 jury. We're very grateful to our Home of the Year partner, Altherm Window Systems, for making Cathleen's visit possible.

The details:

Auckland 6.30pm, Tuesday February 19
Auditorium, Auckland Museum

Christchurch 6.30pm, Thursday February 21
Lecture Theatre C2, University of Canterbury

Tickets are $20 ($15 for subscribers and students). You can buy them at the link here. Numbers are limited, so get in quick.

Please contact us at 09 308 2739 or homenewzealand@bauermedia.co.nz if you have any questions. We look forward to seeing you at one of Cathleen's talks.

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