A Queenstown architect last night won part of a Department of Building and Housing competition for his design of a starter home.
The award was announced at a function in the Beehive Banquet Hall in Wellington.
The competition aimed to encourage architects, designers and those in the building industry to come up with innovative and affordable solutions which show what can be achieved with limited resources.
The competition had two categories from which the supreme winner was chosen.
Category one comprised designs adhering to the parameters contained in the department's proposed design document for simple housing while category two allowed for innovative application of the parameters of the proposed design document for simple housing.
About 140 entries were short-listed down to 10 finalists by the judging panel.
Tony Koia, of Koia Architects Ltd, Queenstown, won category one and Stephen Smith, from S3 Architects Ltd in Auckland, won category two and the overall award.
The house will be built in Mangere by Housing New Zealand Corporation and showcased to the public.
Building and Construction Minister Maurice Williamson said the competition showed innovative and affordable homes were a realistic option for New Zealanders.
Department of Building and Housing chief executive Katrina Bach said the department would use the ideas generated by the competition to inform and improve design guidelines for Simple Housing.
