Press & Awards

Pauanui Beach House

New Zealand’s Best Homes with Phil Spencer - Season 2

Cape to Bluff Vol.2
2026

Home
March / Feb
2026

Wawata House

Home
March/ April
2026

AWARD

HOME Magazine Coastal Home of the Year 2026

Wawata House is a finely resolved coastal retreat that responds with confidence and restraint to its steep setting and expansive bay views. Anchored by an insitu concrete wall that braces the building into the slope, the house balances robustness with warmth through an assured palette of dark steel, cedar, stone, oak and rattan. The jury admired the contrast between the home’s dark, recessive exterior and the softness, informality and tactility of its interior spaces. Generous glazing, sliding timber shutters and carefully integrated outdoor rooms create a richly layered living environment that is both grounded in its landscape and beautifully crafted.

Pacific House

Homes of this Decade 2015 - 2025
Nook Publishing
2025

Fascination Seaside Living: Architecture and Design
Braun Publishing
2024

Dune House

Cape to Bluff Vol.1
2023

Fascination Seaside Living: Architecture and Design
Braun Publishing
2024

Tuatua House

Home
Dec/Jan
2017

Mahia House

On the Shore Seaside Living
Braun Publishing
2017

Houses
Issue 27
2013

AWARD

Dramatically sited on an exposed hill overlooking the ocean, this home protects and shelters its occupants. Carefully detailed, with a simple palette of materials, the house does not try to compete with its dramatic context. The creation of an internal courtyard, where visitors and occupants can relax while still taking in the stunning views, provides the ultimate in a protected space. The house, which can accommodate numerous guests while retaining privacy for the owners, is an unmistakable expression of New Zealand vernacular.

Hobson Bay House

On the Shore Seaside Living
Braun Publishing
2017

Home
Jun/Jul + Cover
2015

Coromandel House

This new residence replaces an existing family holiday house and embodies the traditional essence of a Kiwi bach with a modern design and an informal ambience. The spatial planning has been thoughtfully considered to meet both current and future requirements. The upper floor living area offers coastal views over neighbouring properties, as well as a dramatic mount vista and distant views of the Coromandel Ranges. Additionally, a strategically positioned westerly nook maintains connectivity to the street and surrounding community. Materials have been carefully chosen to endure the challenging coastal conditions, with bagged masonry walls extending from the interior to the exterior to blur boundaries and provide thermal mass within the home. This project has achieved a successful outcome that promises enjoyment for many years to come.

AWARD

Salisbury House

This project gets to the heart of what may be described as ‘new urban excess’. The traditional villa, revamped as a model for contemporary living, is pushed to the extreme as the architect lays down one slick solution after another to superb effect. This extensive renovation leaves no stone unturned and collates a series of excellent spatial strategies and surprising combinations of volume and surface. The attention to detail and use of traditional materials and techniques is extensive and well-concealed behind a delicate and faithful treatment to the street elevation.

Home
Jun/Jul
2016

AWARD

Sandy Bay House

Home
Dec/Jan
2013

Meadowbank House

Houses
Issue 27
2013

AWARD

A significant late-1960s house by emigré architect Franz Iseke sits within stone’s throw of a cluster of several small modernist gems in a Meadowbank gully. The latest stage of this sensitive renovation has both restored the house’s original programme from a previous mangling and given some much-needed extra space to the current owners. Echoing the existing language of the house, the new second-storey addition is both respectful and confidently expressive in its own right.

Muriwai House

Home
Dec 2015

City House Country House
Penguin Random House
2016

AWARD

Significantly outshining its pedestrian neighbours in every way, this confident hilltop building uses a hunkered-down, shelter-from-the storm language that is entirely appropriate to its exposed cliff-edge site high above Muriwai beach. It is careful to capture and frame the spectacular views but its confident use of in situ poured concrete and wood also reassures occupants that the house can ride out the wildest storms the Tasman can throw at it. Inside, the house’s volumes are airy, elegant and restrained in their considered use of materials, lending the building a sense of calm, solidity and poise.