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An eel-like long, slim southern home

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 1:45pm

Two architects with complementary practices joined forces with a Dunedin client to achieve an enjoyable and collaborative solution for an ambitious design project on the Roseneath Peninsula.


The site provided significant challenges. The urban fringe location between Port Chalmers...

Synergetic Graduation of a Simple Form

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 1:54pm

The client purchased a section which was just over a 1000sqm in the middle of suburbia, surrounded by established homes being circa 1960-1970.


Close to Waikato Diocesan School for Girls and to the Fairfield Bridge, providing easy access to Hamilton City, his intention was to achieve...

The Bach that John Kirwan Built

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 12:29pm

For Sir John Kirwan, the beachside town of Waihi is akin to a spiritual home. The sporting great and keen surfer spent countless holidays and weekends in the town since his parents bought their Waihi bach when he was just 8 years old. 


Kirwan and his wife Fiorella originally built a...

Hawkeshead

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 12:53pm

When Eric Dally, architect at Eric H Dally Architects Ltd and his wife Dawn designed their new home, they couldn’t go past the clean lines and economy of Steel & Tube Plumbdek® in COLORSTEEL® ENDURA® FlaxPod® for the roof. Eric says “Plumbdek® is a very economical profile with attractive...

Beautifully blended with its landscape

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 12:23pm

The owners sought a place that reminded them of their former hilly and windy site, overlooking the sea in Wellington while connecting to their new home in Christchurch. The north facing site on the last recorded lava flow on Banks Peninsula gave them everything.


The design echoes a...

Recladding 2.5km of noise protection walls

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 12:25pm

Back in 2011, when the Hobsonville motorway opened – part of a $220 million roading project – its bright orange noise protection walls caused a bit of a stir.


People thought the stark orange was an undercoat for a more acceptable colour. Some locals even took to social media to...

Falcon Brae Villa

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 16/03/2021 - 11:45am

Set on 350 acres of private forest and native bush, Falcon Brae Villa is located on the ridge of the property at near 200m elevation with expansive views to the river and the Kahurangi National Park. The villa complex is an architecturally designed, contemporary residence being marketed as an...

Innovation in Pauanui

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 11:28am

Located near the coastal holiday town of Pauanui, this new Bach makes use of an innovative, smart and quick construction technique.

Looking at this beachside Bach, it is hard to believe it could be built in just five weeks. While a little smaller than some of the sprawling Bach’s in this...

Roll to Roof: The future of large-scale industrial roofing installations

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 11:00am

The country’s largest industrial roof has been installed using an innovative, safer and more cost-effective at-height system never used before in New Zealand. The roof on Foodstuffs’ new distribution centre at Auckland Airport will become home to the country’s largest solar panel farm to be...

Two Sheds in Raglan

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 11:04am

Located in a small industrial park just off the highway on the outskirts of Raglan, Two Sheds is a mixed-use development that has been turning heads due to its simple but effective design. The project by Hamilton-based Red Architecture comprises two shed forms with attached office or residential...

Arcline Architecture Alterton Park Home

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 11:23am

A retired Auckland couple’s relocation to Kerikeri came with a brief to Arcline Architecture’s principal Alan Simpkin for a home to blend with the Northland environment.

It was to be in harmony with Kerikeri’s cultural history – think Rewa Village, a pre-European replica Maori fishing...

Hawkes Bay Regional Sports Park

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 10:48am

While fund raising in Hawkes Bay for a sports park facility was in full swing, a significant development in roof innovation was happening that would ultimately benefit this world class complex: a newly released warm roof system was chosen for the $28m first stage of the new sports hub. Dimond...

Local legend embedded in design of New Plymouth’s airport terminal

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 10:27am

Some key design principles were established by a collective Beca design team, liaising with the local hapu to ensure the iwi’s story and history was reflected in the New Plymouth Airport terminal. Located 11km from the city centre, the building is located on a historic coastal site where...

Cheatley House in Wanganui

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 10:34am

Symmetry and bold looks were key elements for the Cheatleys when it came to the design and execution of their Wanganui home.

Both those elements were captured by using tray cladding – Steelform Roofing Group’s Steelform TCS using COLORSTEEL® substrate in matt Tempest colour – with...

South pacific architecture captures the qualities of the Tuvalu culture

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 05/02/2021 - 10:43am

The brief to Architect Megan Rule, South Pacific Architecture, was to design a place of worship that captured the qualities of the community and South Pacific culture of the Tuvalu Christian community.

The traditional churches in the Tuvalu Islands are designed to cope with a hot humid...

Kingsland Fire Station Renovation

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 12:15pm

The Kingsland Fire Station occupies a prime location on the ridge overlooking Eden Park in on the Auckland city fringe in Kingsland, Auckland and has a varied past. According to Kingsland Heritage, the brick fire station was built in a Georgian Revival style in 1933 to replace an original timber...

Houhere House: Returning To The Wild Off The Grid

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 12:09pm

When the owners of Houhere bought a piece of land on Banks Peninsula six years ago, the intention was to return it to a natural setting and build a home that could transition from a weekender to a permanent residence.

They already had a cottage nearby so they left the land to ‘re-wild’ –...

Delivering the “wow” factor to earthquake-damaged central Christchurch the EntX complex, with its seven Hoyts cinemas, restaurants and bars, has provided a new social hub to the city’s CBD.

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 11:18am

Located on Colombo Street across from the central bus exchange, the cinema and dining complex features a striking wall cladding on the triple height, 15m high atrium of the development in a mix of colours to represent the patchwork landscape of the Canterbury Plains.

Eurotray® Angle Seam...

Weber Architecture’s Classic Alpine Home

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 11:42am

Structure Led Architecture is a theme to be found in all designs from Arrowtown-based Warrick Weber Architecture. This Otago home demonstrates the concept in all its forms.

Reflecting the peaks of its rugged, mountainous environment, the home in Bendemeer, near Lake Hayes, embodies...

339: A Private, Inner City Oasis

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 11:53am

Located on a main arterial road and faced with high neighbours overlooking from the north and south, this small narrow site required a considered approach to create privacy within the house, whilst still maintaining ample light, sun and views. As the own home of Architect Dave Strachan and his...

Domaine Thomson Wines

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Wed, 30/09/2020 - 11:05am

Just as Domaine Thomson Wines showcases the best of the Central Otago and Burgundy terroir, the company’s new cellar and tasting room takes design cues from these two distinct regions.

On the outside, the architecture is reminiscent of the back country huts of Central Otago, and...

Building the Same Again – But Different

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 06/03/2020 - 12:06pm

A few years back, Ian and Lynda Gare built a home they loved, but hankered to build again - making some subtle changes but using the same basic layout. Their new home in Golden Road, 10km from Alexandra in Central Otago, has incorporated features they spent a lot of time thinking about and...

Community Project Roofing Industries and PCC

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 06/03/2020 - 12:11pm

It is well known that New Zealanders give generously to worthy causes, although they often don’t talk about the near $3 billion a year they give to trusts, foundations and charities. Then there are the smaller, locally-promoted fund-raising efforts in communities around the country. When the...

Walker Architecture: Intelligent by Design

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 06/03/2020 - 11:05am

When Ngai Tahu approached Walker Architecture in Christchurch to design a new building for PGG Wrightson (one of their key tenants,) it represented both a remarkable opportunity and challenge for both architects and structural engineers.

PGG Wrightson Seed in Christchurch were in a...

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