Home New Zealand December 2021 - January 2022

As I write this, Aucklanders are enjoying ‘Freedom Day’. Today marks 107 days since we went into the latest lockdown. Coincidentally, it’s also the closing date for entries to Home of the Year 2022, so there’s a lot to celebrate today — and just as much to look forward to in the year ahead. While the next few months look sure to deliver yet more ups and downs as we navigate this pandemic, we’re now used to working remotely and to acting swiftly to find different ways of achieving our goals. What the last year or so has taught us as a team is definitely resourcefulness and flexibility, and the importance of thinking outside the box — the same qualities we are seeing in the New Zealand architecture and design…

Kirsten Matthew For this issue, you penned features about a home on Eastern Beach and a landscape design on the North Shore. What were the most memorable aspects of each? The thinking that goes into an architectural project is invariably the most interesting aspect for me. I’m always impressed by the practitioners who create these homes and landscapes and the experience and knowledge that inform their design choices. I think we undervalue just how complicated the process is of conceptualising a space that is both beautiful and functional. Your pieces for this issue were written during lockdown. Tell us about your experiences of working at home over the past couple of years. Working at home is easy for me and, in a way, where I am happiest. I was a…

Culinary colour DESIGN:01 With adversity comes opportunity. On seeing the struggles of her community during the pandemic and the resulting motivation and determination that drove business owners to diversify and change, Queenstown local Rachel Turner was inspired to do something different. “I felt an energy in the collective determination of the community,” she explained. The result: a bright, bold, and unashamedly fun cookware range — Biroix. “Cookware — and the kitchen in general — has largely become defined by neutral palettes. I wanted to introduce the ability for people to bring bright colour and energy into the kitchen with cast-iron cookware that harks back to the distinctive colours and longevity of the cooking utensils of the 1960s and ’70s.” Biroix features three playful colourways: green, yellow, and orange — a…

According to its architect, Andrew Patterson, the original home where the art was displayed was built in the ’70s and inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. It was severely damaged by the Christchurch earthquakes. When it came time to rebuild, the Wakefields decided the new house museum should be open to the public. “A house museum is remarkable in that it shows art through the eyes of the people who collect it; it is regarded as an intimate architectural genre,” says Patterson, pointing out that this was a little different: “How do you do a house museum [the collectors] have never lived in?” For that, the award-winning firm “took [the] dimensions and plan of the old house, took the major rooms, and put them together in a new house — not…

From the soulful sprucing up of a community centre and humble extensions; from tiny homes for at-risk youth through to extensive new builds for corporate and civic projects – the scope and breadth of architecture in Aotearoa was recently celebrated at the 2021 New Zealand Architecture Awards. Here’s a brief selection of some of our many favourites. @nziarchitects…

Twenty-two metres overhead, the architecture of prehistoric native bush meets the intricate workings of an aerial experience not quite like any other. Here, just outside Rotorua, conservation and adventure tourism collide in the swings, treetop platforms, and bridges of Rotorua Canopy Tours — the brainchild of James Fitzgerald. Like many other local tourism operations, the eco zip-lining experience has faced the challenge of closed borders and travel restrictions and, as a result, James’ entrepreneurial spirit came to the fore. He saw the opportunity to do something more, and a new venture began: Chuffed Gifts. A collaborative operation, Chuffed is another visionary enterprise that, like the ever-popular Rotorua Canopy Tours, has its sights set on sustainability and eco-tourism, while also supporting local tourism operators around the motu. “Chuffed is on a…