The awards in Christchurch celebrated outstanding projects from across New Zealand in commercial and residential categories. The awards are run by professional membership body - Architectural Designers New Zealand.
The winners of the 2021 awards were Craig South of South Architects, Mitchell Coll of Coll Architecture, Pippin Wright-Stow of F3 Design, Greg Young and Andy McLeod of Young Architects, Ben Brady of Linetype Architectural, Richard Humphries of Shaped Architecture Ltd, Barry Connor of Barry Connor Design, Sam Connell of Connell Architecture, Bob Burnett and Shizuka Yasui of Bob Burnett Architecture, Don Roy of Site Architecture Limited, Bob Jackson of Jackson + Jackson Architectural Design, Marcus Stufkens of Stufkens + Chambers Architects, and Nic Curragh of Objects Ltd.
South was the big winner on the night, taking home four awards for four unique projects. One of his most notable wins was the 2021 Regional Multi-Unit Dwelling Award Sponsored by MiTek. It was awarded to South for his work on the ‘Peterborough Housing Co-operative’ in central Christchurch.
The ADNZ judges said the project was both very well-executed and very timely.
"The result is a particularly well-conceived co-housing scheme that exemplifies the potential for an increasingly important approach to multi-unit living in New Zealand," said the panel.
"Efficiently and sustainably designed individual units have access to shared amenities including a common garden area and a large space for whanau to gather for important events.
"Planning and spatial arrangements consistently support the idea of creating a community, and these ideas are then carried through consistently to the more detailed aspects within the scheme.
"All of this is then underpinned by a fundamental and comprehensive approach to carbon neutrality and wider sustainable living issues.
South also took out the 2021 Regional Residential New Home over 300m2 Award for a Cashmere home titled ‘Folded Roof Home’.
He was also awarded the 2021 Regional Commercial/Industrial Award for his design of ‘Halswell Quarry Preschool’ - a learning centre with a strong connection to nature, and a Commended Award in the Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 Category for his work on an ‘Alpine Holiday Home’ in Castle Hill.
Mitchell Coll, of Coll Architecture, took home two awards for his project ‘Cox Street’ in Merivale. He was awarded the 2021 Regional Residential Interiors Award and a Highly Commended Award in the Residential New Home over 300m2 Category.
Coll also won the Regional Commercial Interior Award and the Resene Colour in Design Award for his work alongside Pippin Wright-Stow of F3 Design on an unconventional office space in the heart of the central city. A relaxed co-working creative space, the office caters to a variety of working styles to cultivate a rich atmosphere of ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Greg Young and Andy McLeod of Young Architects won the 2021 Regional Residential Interiors Award for their design titled ‘The Christchurch Style Revival’ which is located in Moncks Spur.
The Christchurch Style of the 1960s is often described as “one of the few original and lasting cultural movements in New Zealand’s modern history”.
This movement has been referenced throughout this award-winning design. Timber has been used extensively throughout the interior, with cedar on the ceilings, oak on the floors, and birch on the walls. This is combined with crisp white on plasterboard and exposed concrete blockwork. Lighting has been chosen predominantly for its simplicity, with feature pendants selected to reflect original influences of The Christchurch Style. Touches of colour have been used throughout, in tiling, joinery, and wallpapers, adding to the refinement of the home, with the red oxide a nod to a colour used a lot in The Christchurch Style period.
The judges said the careful and well-controlled articulation of a rich material palette has contributed to a very successful interior in this project that both respects and references the Christchurch style with a clear authority and understanding.
Young also received a Commended Award in the Residential Alterations and Additions category for his work on the project.
Architectural designer Richard Humphries, of Shaped Architecture Ltd, won the Regional Residential New Home up to 150m2 Award for his design ‘Lyttelton Cube’.
Replacing an earthquake damaged cottage on a 389m2 mostly flat site in Lyttelton, the new modern three-bedroom home takes advantage of the magnificent views. At just 52m2 per floor, over two levels, the home features large windows to capture the sun on all sides of the house.
Ben Brady, of Linetype Architectural, won two awards for two Canterbury projects. He won the Regional Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 Award for an Opawa project, located in a flood management area called ‘Swamp Dwelling’, and a Commended Award in the Residential Alterations and Additions Category for a Sumner home called ‘Tipping Point’.
The ADNZ National Awards Gala will be held on Friday, October 29, in Dunedin.
2021 CANTERBURY/ WESTLAND REGIONAL WINNERS
Designer: Craig South, South Architects
Design title: Folded Roof Home
Location of award-winning property: Cashmere, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Residential New Home over 300m2 Award
Photographer to credit: Sarah Rowlands Photography + Ian Hutchinson (aerial photos)
Description: With the challenge of a narrow street façade, this home uses its folded roof form to guide visitors up through the interior spaces toward the amazing views of the Southern Alps. The family home, across two levels, responds creatively to the challenge of the beautiful location.
Judge’s comments: This is a thoughtful and inventive design. Dynamic space planning has been employed particularly well to resolve issues and exploit the full potential of this challenging site. The folded roof planes are set up to complement the spatial planning. The light is let in through clerestory openings which work in beautiful tandem with the interiors. This is a scheme where three dimensions are needed to tell the story and where the elevational drawings struggle to illustrate how the folded roof form has been employed with great poise.
Designer: Craig South, South Architects
Design title: Peterborough Housing Co-operative
Location of award winning property: Christchurch Central City, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Multi-Unit Dwelling Award Sponsored by MiTek
Photographer to credit: Craig South
Description: Following the devastation of the Canterbury earthquakes, an existing co-housing community needed to be re-established in central Christchurch. Based around the co-housing philosophies from Europe and America, community space was to be maximised, connection was encouraged and carparking isolated. Fourteen residential units, with a variety of unit sizes and levels, were created alongside a large Common House and shared utility spaces.
Judge’s comments: What we have here is a project that is both very well-executed and very timely. The result is a particularly well-conceived co-housing scheme that exemplifies the potential for an increasingly important approach to multi-unit living in New Zealand.
Efficiently and sustainably designed individual units have access to shared amenities including a common garden area and a large space for whanau to gather for important events.
Planning and spatial arrangements consistently support the idea of creating a community, and these ideas are then carried through consistently to the more detailed aspects within the scheme. All of this is then underpinned by a fundamental and comprehensive approach to carbon neutrality and wider sustainable living issues.
Design title: Halswell Quarry Preschool
Location of award winning property: Halswell, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commercial/ Industrial Award
Photographer to credit: Stephen Goodenough
Description: A learning centre with a strong connection to nature, Halswell Quarry Preschool encourages children to explore and engage with one another throughout the interior and exterior learning environments. Centred around a large existing magnolia tree, the inner courtyard has been designed as the focal point for the surrounding learning spaces. The simple external form is broken into three key elements, each designed specifically to cater to the needs of the different age groups. As the children grow, they get to experience the larger spaces.
Judge’s comments: A thoughtful use of materials, a link to outside spaces and an internal landscaped courtyard that retains existing trees, makes this an exceptional preschool design. Light space and from are integrated particularly well. It is a sophisticated architectural response to the brief.
Designer: Craig South, South Architects
Design title: Alpine Holiday Home
Location of award winning property: Castle Hill, Canterbury
Award(s): Commended in the Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Anthony Turnham
Description: Nestled amongst other homes in the small alpine community of Castle Hill, this holiday home was designed to meld into its environment. The timber structure provides a rhythm through the home and helps add volume to living spaces. The first floor has been tucked nicely within the main roof form.
A simple roof form, with a combination of timber weatherboard and shingles, the has a true alpine aesthetic.
Judge’s comments: This design of a simple cloak roof form, over a well-organised plan layout and protected outdoor areas in response to a harsh alpine climate has been well executed, resulting in a house that sensitively responds to its mountainous context.
Designer: Ben Brady, Linetype Architectural
Design title: Swamp Dwelling
Location of award winning property: Opawa, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 Award
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Description: The site is directly opposite a river in a flood management area where a retired couple, relocating from a lifestyle block, sought to down scale maintenance commitments while also building a house tailored to their specific needs. They wanted easy accessibility, good building performance, an art studio, motorcycle workshop, a bedroom and a guest suite, plus good outdoor living. Challenges with the site included a required floor level of 1.4m above ground, tough rules on earthworks and filling, a narrow lot, and a generous road setback to keep from the river.
Judge’s comments: This is one of those buildings where the more you keep looking, the more you find. There is nothing exceptional about the site to exploit, there is no stunning view, no native bush, no flowing stream, and no heritage setting, no inspiration is present. Instead, this unforgiving site presents two direct difficulties – a long thin plan and a high ground water level.
But yet, what has been produced here is an outstanding design.
Designer: Ben Brady, Linetype Architectural
Design title: Tipping Point
Location of award winning property: Sumner, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential Alterations and Additions Category
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Description: This original 1940s bungalow had been added to by the owners in 2009, leaving a small amount of the dwelling in near original form with the balance in a contemporary style. It had a relatively complex roof and several floor levels to negotiate. Fast forward and a straight-forward request for extra bedrooms and a living area became anything but once the engineers got involved. However, Linetype Architectural found a way, all be it unusual, with a crane like steel structure straddling the existing building, but not allowed to connect. The 50mm seismic gap between the two is bridged by sacrificial linings and flashings and a cantilevering steel frame the cranes over the existing bathroom. To balance the weight of the new structure, the existing garage block walls were demolished to keep the load on the piles the same. The form of the structure is heavily dictated by heights of the existing dwelling. Linetype Architectural elected a double gable form to reduce the bulk of the façade with low side walls compensated by vaulted ceilings.
Judge’s comments: The challenge of marrying two different architectural forms has been managed with care and skill in this inventive project. The new addition is a well-crafted Corten box, with 50 mm seismic gap bridging to a 1940’s bungalow to create more family space.
With an earlier extension not fully documented and the existing structure’s capacity to bear more weight unknown, the designer’s challenge changed dramatically from what looked like a straightforward expansion of the existing home to a design that reflects a pragmatic solution to this problem.
Designer: Mitchell Coll, Coll Architecture
Design title: Cox Street
Location of award winning property: Merivale, Christchurch
Award(s):
Regional Residential Interiors Award
Highly Commended in the Residential New Home over 300m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Stephen Goodenough
Description: Designed as a family home in one of Christchurch’s more established neighbourhoods, this house wraps around a centrally located reflection pond. The circulation space, located adjacent to the pond, works as an in-between space which allows the transmittance of the pond's dancing reflections throughout the house. Between the pond and the circulation space are decorative louvres, further scrambling the scattered light which differs in intensity depending on the time of day and year. As the sun moves across the pond, the wavering reflections move across the internal spaces, ever changing to create a calm and subdued atmosphere on the interior.
Judge’s comments: There is an excellent clarity to the plan and the consequent visual connections between and within the spaces have been managed with great skill. The plan flows well in the entire scheme, and this is particularly evident in the circulation and views around the water element. This element not only provides a refined and restrained punctuation to the flow in the plan, but also provides the rippling surface that throws scattered light into the interior. The resulting interior offers a calm, controlled and refined environment for the fortunate occupants.
Designer: Mitchell Coll, Coll Architecture and Pippin Wright-Stow, F3 Design
Design title: Walker Street
Location of award winning property: Christchurch Central City, Christchurch
Award(s):
Regional Commercial Interior Award
Regional Resene Colour in Design Award
Photographer to credit: Mick Stephenson
Description: With the change of times, outcast office workers are seeking less conventional working spaces-something different from the typically rigid high end office fitout. The brief for this project was to offer a relaxed co-working space, with more privacy than other examples, while still maintaining the benefits of a collaborative creative space, such as liveliness, networking, and an ease for business expansion. By catering to a variety of working styles, this shared facility strives to cultivate a rich atmosphere of ingenuity and resourcefulness.
Judge’s comments: This design has a makeshift quality. It is a good exemplar of adaptive reuse and working with salvaged materials. The use of mechanical workshop, glasshouses and container provides privacy within shared spaces. The biophilic design incorporating plants creates a community hub.
Designer: Greg Young and Andy McLeod, Young Architects
Design title: The Christchurch Style Revival
Location of award-winning property: Moncks Spur, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Residential Interiors Award
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Description: The Christchurch Style has been described as “one of the few original and lasting cultural movements in New Zealand’s modern history”. This architectural movement has had a strong influence on the aesthetics of the design and utilization of materials, while the technology and engineering has been updated to best practice wherever possible. Timber has been used extensively throughout the interior, with cedar on the ceilings, oak on the floors, and birch on the walls. This is combined with crisp white on plasterboard and exposed concrete block work. Lighting has been chosen predominantly for its simplicity, with feature pendants selected to reflect original influences on The Christchurch Style. Crisp white concrete blockwork defines the simple form of the home, with areas of the house recessed into the protective skin this offers clad in a warm natural cedar, which carries on into the interior of the home. Touches of colour have been used throughout, in tiling, joinery, and wallpapers, adding to the refinement of the home, with the red oxide a nod to The Christchurch Style.
Judge’s comments: Careful and well-controlled articulation of a rich material palette has contributed to a very successful interior in 5his project that both respects and references The Christchurch Style with a clear authority and understanding.
Concrete and timber sit alongside each other to set up the primary visual experience. Timber adds to the warmth and richness and this is successfully contrasted against the harder bleached surfaces that the concrete provides the base for. Planning is also controlled particularly well. Interior to exterior flow is carefully crafted with a continuation of materials and excellent attention to detailing. Careful control of natural and artificial lighting is a final key to a very well-articulated solution that creates a set of refined interior spaces.
Designer: Greg Young, Young Architects
Design title: The Christchurch Style Revival
Location of award winning property: Moncks Spur, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential Alterations and Additions Category
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Judge’s comments: Moody and light, a refined use of materials has been employed to create a sumptuous and meditative interior in this bold and effective design.
This elegant “urban bach” shows a clear and honest commitment to the Christchurch style. With the original footprint largely retained, the spatial relationships, materials and views all pay a part in creating what is overall an impressive new home.
Designer: Greg Young and Andy McLeod, Young Architects
Design title: Neo M.C.M
Location of award winning property: Cashmere, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential Interiors Category
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Description: The design brief was for a beautiful house that maximises the views and a home that has individuality and character. It needed to be mid-century inspired, with detail, using concrete block and timber. It required a strong and bold roof design, maximising the interior space. The form and structure of the roof has been expressed internally. By pitching the roof longitudinally rather than transversely, the internal spaces change from being low and cosy in the bedroom, to expansive in the living spaces. With full height glazing in the living spaces, the planes and materials of the house extend in continuum towards the view. This is intended to blur the definition of interior and exterior space, as well as drawing your eye out to the horizon.
Judge’s comments: The modernist approach to this design aesthetic is reinforced with a carefully crafted interior. Exposed steel and timber have been carefully detailed and then enhanced by the selective use of a rich colour palette and subtle pattern. Natural and artificial light have been meticulously managed to enhance the quality of the spaces while also enhancing the material choices. A well-articulated solution consistent with the modernist design approach.
Design title: Lyttelton Cube
Location of award winning property: Lyttelton, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Residential New Home up to 150m2
Photographer to credit: Mick Stevenson Photography
Description: The clients lost the original cottage on this site to the earthquakes. They had always intended the house to be their retirement home. The site was cleared, providing a reasonably flat building platform, which is a rarity in Lyttelton. But with only 389m2, and half of it beautifully landscaped, it didn’t leave a huge amount of room for building. The clients wanted a three-bedroom, modern home that would take advantage of the amazing views. As this was to be their place of retirement, creating a low maintenance home was important.
Judge’s comments: A clear, consistent expression of form, this is a clever design for a tight site. The square plan works very well, and the graphic colours and strong sculptural form is a great response to the harbour context. The simple plan effectively captures the Northern sun while also encapsulating the harbour views.
Designer: Marcus Stufkens, Stufkens + Chambers Architects
Design title: TWIZEL BACH
Location of award winning property: Twizel, Canterbury
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential Interiors Category
Photographer to credit: Anthony Turnham Photography
Description: This family bach is a collection of two buildings unified by an internal courtyard.
The design process took inspiration from the local surroundings to create a unique exterior and interior form. The home sits modestly on a flat semi-rural site with mountain scene outlooks. Interior spaces unfold from a bright lit living space before recalibrating the experience as you move to each space via a sun-drenched gallery that doubles up as an extension of the bedroom and media spaces. The home is understated on the outside and creates a calm demeanour on the inside and responds to the greater environment with pocket connections.
Judge’s comments: This bach has a strong black and white theme that has been softened by cedar elements. The successful compact interiors are snug and well-lit.
Designer: Nic Curragh, Objects Ltd
Design title: Moncks Bay Lane
Location of award winning property: Redcliffs, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential Interiors category
Photographer to credit: Sarah Rowlands Photography
Description: This five bedroom family house derives its strong form from the adaption to site and the new planning constraints that now govern these coastal areas. Planning articulates around a central entrance courtyard garden with split multi-levels separating living and sleeping areas. Double height spaces in the living and sunrooms share these light-filled spaces vertically through the house. Materially a combination of bricks, dark stained Cedar, Oak timbers and bronze tones punctuate the architectural form and a consistent use of these materials blurs the delineation of spaces from the inside out. Raised garden boxes and green roofs provide scale and connection.
Judge’s comments: The plan for this house works around a central entrance courtyard. The suspended book balustrade feature, use of exposed brick, stained cedar, oiled oak, and bronze creates a consistently themed interior.
Designer: Barry Connor, Barry Connor Design
Design title: SKYLARK CABIN
Location of award winning property: Twizel
Award(s): Regional Highly Commended in the Residential New Home up to 150m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Description: The underlying form is of two offset open plan spaces. One contains the bedroom and bathroom and is positioned to allow morning sun in both winter and summer to filter through. These spaces are orientated towards The Black Hills and Backbone Peak. The other holds the kitchen, entry and living areas with closer views of the Ben Ohau range. The angle of the offset was derived from plotting specific views from certain activities; lying in bed, washing the dishes, having a shower, sitting, standing. The folded form also nods to the distinctive aerial display of the local Skylarks with their angular, precise, and purposeful acrobatics.
Judge’s comments: A beautiful design that has been well laid out and located on an exceptional site. The strong roof form relates sensitively to the mountain context. While the low profile and material palette works well in its setting within the powerful landscape. An oculus adds a great finishing touch offering an incredible view of the night sky.
Designer: Barry Connor, Barry Connor Design
Design title: St Columbas Hall
Location of award winning property: Hawarden, Canterbury
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential Alterations and Additions Category
Photographer to credit: Dennis Radermacher
Description: The brief for the Hall project was to retain as much of the notable original features; the vaulted timber-lined roof and gothic-arched doors. The simplicity of the space provided for a sympathetic, open-plan living area with increased connection to a newly-formed outdoor terrace. The main open-plan space provides the living requirements and includes sleeping, living, and dining, with a separate bathroom off the entry porch.
A thoughtful and sympathetic renovation preserving the simple historic charm and respecting its understated architectural elements - a clean, pure and angelic space.
Judge’s comments: St Columba Church Hall has had new life breathed into it via this sensitive, elegant, and restrained intervention. The original rectangular form and key architectural features have been retained and worked with. The result is a clean and sympathetic rebirth of the Hall as a family home. The designer has applied a thoughtful approach in areas such as the roof, to maintain the apparent simplicity of the original form. This is an excellent example of an upgrade respecting and retaining the original features through smart and humble design work behind the scenes.
Designer: Sam Connell, Connell Architecture
Design title: 3 Ngahere St
Location of award winning property: Fendalton, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Highly Commended in the Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 category
Photographer to credit: Sarah Rowlands
Description: This large modern home is set in a rear section on a recent subdivision in the leafy Christchurch suburb overlooking Riccarton House and Bush.
This is an example of timeless contemporary architecture. A variety of exterior materials were chosen for their clean lines and quality finish, with a mix of cedar, bluestone, and plaster panels. Large overhangs and simple form balance out the floor to ceiling glazing throughout. This glazing is a key feature which maximises light as well as making the most of the views to existing trees and native bush in the neighbourhood.
Judge’s comments: The material palette is simple, fresh and effective. The designer has incorporated a lovely entry along with a well proportioned, careful organisation of spaces and consideration of detail to ensure privacy.
Designer: Sam Connell, Connell Architecture
Design title: 3a Ngahere St
Location of award winning property: Fendalton, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Highly Commended in the Residential New Home over 300m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Sarah Rowlands
Judge’s comments: A timeless classic, this is a building that comfortably relates to its site. The stylish design flows consistently from exterior to interior where great detailing complements the layout and organisation of the private spaces. Overall, the designer has delivered an impressive, and well-controlled scheme.
Designer: Bob Burnett and Shizuka Yasui, Bob Burnett Architecture
Design title: Rata Superhome
Location of award winning property: Riccarton, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Kate Claridge Photography
Description: The mature trees of Riccarton Bush serve as the backdrop for this striking, forward-looking home designed to Superhome principles. In addition to the high-performance thermal envelope, solar panels linked to the hot water and underfloor heating have allowed for tiny power bills. The narrow nature of the site has influenced the bold, asymmetric gable form and dramatic double-height living space. Contrasting dark aluminium and richly stained Siberian Larch ensure this future focussed home stands out.
Judge’s comments: This sustainable house has been specifically designed to meet Healthy Home standards, and includes edge insulation, eco panel walls and solar panels with recessed windows.
It is economic, energy efficient and has great spatial planning.
Designer: Don Roy, Site Architecture Limited
Design title: The Jetty
Location of award winning property: Redcliffs, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Commended in the Residential New Home between 150m2 and 300m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Wendy Cook Photographer of Abode Photography
Description: Located in the seaside suburb of Redcliffs, the home overlooks the sea, the estuary, and the tall red cliffs behind. Conceptually the home has been projected out to the water like a jetty, and the concrete block garage emulates rocks anchoring the structure to the shore. The asymmetrical roof form harks back to the seaside baches of the area.
Oiled cedar references the surrounding coast and raw concrete block represents the rocky foreshore.
Judge’s comments: Located on a long, narrow site, this house has been cleverly designed to access the sea views while also providing protection from the Easterly winds. A fantastic project
Designer: Bob Jackson, Jackson + Jackson Architectural Design
Design title: Bay House
Location of award winning property: Redcliffs, Christchurch
Award(s): Regional Highly Commended in the Residential New Home over 300m2 Category
Photographer to credit: Stephen Goodenough
Description: A character filled place to gather was required for this coastal hill house for a couple with regularly visiting family and friends. They also wanted quiet intimate zones, activity rooms, a place to relax, associated utilities, a space to display eclectic collections, books, pottery and maritime artifacts and a garden to feed everyone.
Judge’s comments: This family home is sited to take advantage of the majestic views towards Pegasus Bay. This is an accomplished design with appropriately robust detailing. Evocative architectural drawings reinforce the richness derived from a strong connection to the local environment.
