Design Awards 2014 Call for Entries

Designers! Each year our Design Awards programme features the best New Zealand furniture and homeware - and now's your chance to enter to ensure your design reaches the country's most engaged readers.

All you need to do to enter is send up to five images (from a variety of angles) of the furniture or object(s) you've designed, along with a 250-word statement about the project's aims and its designers. You can email your entries to designawards@bauermedia.co.nz or courier them to HOME magazine, Bauer Media, Shed 12, CityWorks Depot, 77 Cook Street, Auckland 1010.

Entries at due by 5pm, Tuesday April 15.

We'll choose a shortlist of finalist from the entries and have them photographed for inclusion in our June/July issue, on newsstands June 2. 

We look forward to showcasing more of the work of New Zealand's best designers.

Design Case Studies with Altherm Window Systems: Drift Bay house by Kerr Ritchie Architects

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to the first in our new series of Design Case Studies, which will run weekly here on our blog. 

The Design Case Studies are created to give you insight into the building process of some of the amazing homes in the magazine, so the owners can share some of the lessons they learned with you. The series is brought to you in association with Atherm Window Systems. 

The first Design Case Study visits Pete Ritchie and Bronwen Kerr of Queenstown's Kerr Ritchie Architects and talks to them about how they allowed themselves maximum flexibility and minimum fuss with the construction of their home at Drift Bay on Lake Wakatipu. The photographs are by Paul McCredie.

Pete Ritchie and Bronwen Kerr's home in Drift Bay, near Queenstown.

Architects often say that when they get to design their own homes they have a duty to experiment, and Pete Ritchie and Bronwen Kerr’s home on the shores of Lake Wakatipu is no exception. When architects are their own clients, they also tend to leave their documentation until the last minute. For both of these reasons, Pete and Bronwen decided to hire a builder on a labour and materials arrangement, instead of a fixed-price contract (in which the builder agrees to complete the work on a house for a previously agreed price). “It seemed like a fair way to build and there was flexibility along the way,” Pete says. “Plans don’t have to be quite as tied down, so there’s more scope to move throughout the project. There was a certain amount of experimentation going on, and the builder enjoyed that – although it's not always what we would recommend to our clients, as many want more price certainty.”

Pete Ritchie and Bronwen Kerr of Kerr Ritchie Architects.

This arrangement allowed for small but important changes along the way, changes that would have involved potentially time-consuming renegotiation of a fixed-price building contract. For example, what was intended to be a large storage cupboard in an area at the centre of the house was changed into a room containing a pellet boiler to heat water for the underfloor heating system after Pete and Bronwen investigated heating options and decided a boiler was essential. In another case, they decided not to clad an external wall in cedar, but were able to arrange with the builder to use the leftover timber indoors instead. This flexibility minimised the potential stress of making big decisions a long way in advance. Instead, Pete and Bronwen had the luxury of refining details as the building evolved.

A view of the home with The Remarkables rising behind.

The couple started out with the intention of designing a “lean” house containing enough room for them and their three children, as well as a studio to allow them to run their architecture practise from home. Initially, they hoped to complete the house for somewhere around $2000 a square metre, a target they’d achieved on a home they had previously designed for themselves in Wellington.

The home's studio (where Pete and Bronwen work) and guest bedroom is in the volume at left, with the living areas and three additional bedrooms at right. The eastern courtyard, shown here, connects with the kitchen and catches the morning sun.

By the time building started on their Queenstown house in 2006, prices for building and materials had increased, meaning the cost of the new house came in closer to $2500 a square metre. Fortunately, the increase in the value of their lakeside land in the years between their purchase of it and the erection of their home gave them the ability to borrow more money to cover the extra cost.

The home's main living area looks north across Lake Wakatipu towards Queenstown.

Some decisions they made along the way helped keep costs down, but these choices were always made with the overall aesthetic of the building in mind. Inside, they made the economical choice of strandboard panels for doors, joinery and some walls, instead of the more expensive hoop pine they were initially considering. Now that the strandboard is installed, it feels perfectly in keeping with the home’s casual aesthetic.

The kitchen looks out to the courtyard. The staircase at left is
clad in Strandboard panels, which helped keep costs down
and fit the home's casual aesthetic.

The home's living area features cedar detailing that is also used on the exterior.

The other decision they made in order to save money was for Pete to become the builder’s labourer. The couple had just relocated from Wellington to Queenstown and didn’t have a great deal of local work on at that time, so the arrangement made financial sense and also gave Pete valuable insight into the building process (as well as making it clear that working outside in the middle of a Queenstown winter can sometimes be a bit grim).

 

One of the home's bathrooms features a sauna and a sliding door that opens to the garden. The walls feature 'Vixel' glass mosaic tiles.

Now, with their own home and a number of other commissions completed, the couple say they have a good handle on budgetary matters, but they also emphasise the role the client must play (along with a quantity surveyor or builder) in managing their expenditure. “We’ve found that a lot of clients want to manage projects themselves, and they call on us as required,” Pete says. “Some clients are very hands-on and have the time and capability to get involved in aspects of the building process, while others would rather keep more of a distance.”

A view through the house from the entry to the studio.

Q+A
Bronwen Kerr and Pete Ritchie

HOME Why did you decide on a labour and materials arrangement (in which a builder is effectively paid by the hour and for the materials used) with your builder instead of a fixed-price contract? 

Pete Ritchie: We had a good friend who was the builder, and because we know the industry we could source some materials ourselves. We were our own project managers, and to work like that you need a builder who you trust. A labour and materials arrangement is a pretty open and honest kind of system. We didn’t want to pay a huge premium for a fixed price, and nor did we want the builder to make a loss on the job. So it seemed like an appropriate way for us to work. Architects do have experience and expertise that not everyone else has. This gives them more confidence to work this way. 

HOME You worked as the builder’s labourer. Is that an experience you’d like to repeat? 

Pete Ritchie: On the whole I enjoyed it – I also painted the house myself and stained all the weatherboards. That saved quite a bit of money. But in the middle of winter weeks can go by without you seeming to make much progress, and it’s a bit grim and very cold and you have smoko around a campfire. 

HOME Was the process of building your own place helpful in knowing about budgets? 

Pete Ritchie: It gives you a good idea of where clients are coming from. We naturally tend to be conservative with budgets, and we don’t try to extend clients. The process gave us a really good foundation of understanding where costs lie and how to work within a budget. 

HOME When you learned the house would cost more than you originally intended, did you think about revising the plan, and reducing the home's size? 

Pete Ritchie: We didn't really feel we had any option but to carry on as we had originally planned. We had certain needs and requirements which included the studio we work from. It's not a particularly fat house, so there wasn't much to trim off. We weren't in the mindset of creating a house that was oversized anyway.

The home is clad in dark Colorsteel.

Auckland Architecture Awards 2013

The winners of the NZ Institute of Architects' Auckland Architecture Awards were announced last night. There's a whole host of great buildings here. We'll start with the houses. 

The Newcombe House in Parnell, Auckland (below) was designed by Peter Bartlett and won an Enduring Architecture award. You can see this terrific house published in full in our new book, Modern: New Zealand Homes from 1938 to 1977, which is in bookstores on November 1. The photograph is by Samuel Hartnett. 

The other winner in the Enduring Architecture category was the Yock House (below), designed by architect Lillian Chrystall. 

In the Housing category, RTA Studio won an award for the Stable Lane apartments (below), which featured in our June/July issue. The photograph is by Patrick Reynolds. 

New York-based, New Zealand-born architect David Howell won a Housing Award for this home on Auckland's Upper Queen Street (below), photographed by Patrick Reynolds.

Glamuzina Paterson Architects picked up a Housing award for this holiday home on Waiheke Island (below), photographed by Samuel Hartnett. 

Strachan Group Architects designed the Nikau House in Parnell, which also won an award in the Housing category (below). It also won a Sustainable Architecture award. Photograph by Jackie Meiring. 

You might remember this from our February/March issue last year: the Ngunguru House (below) by Tennent + Brown Architects, another winner in the Housing and Sustainability categories. Photograph by Paul McCredie. 

Strachan Group Architects also picked up Housing and Sustainability awards for their work for VisionWest Community Housing, two low-budget homes in West Auckland (below). Photograph by Jackie Meiring. 

The Takapuna House by Athfield Architects (below) is on the cover of our current issue, and also won a Housing award. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

On Waiheke Island, the Macalister House (below) by architect Wendy Shacklock picked up a Housing award. Photograph by Patrick Reynolds. Watch out for this in one of our upcoming issues. 

This home (below) by Dorrington Architects also won a Housing award. Photograph by Emma-Jane Hetherington. 

Another Housing award winner to watch out for in an upcoming issue: the Tarrant/Millar house in Point Chevalier (below), designed by architect Guy Tarrant (who also happens to have a home in our current issue). Photograph by Patrick Reynolds. 

 

The Cliff Top House (below) by Xsite Architects featured in our August/September issue last year, and also won a Housing Award. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Patterson Associates won a Housing award for this home (below) in St Mary's Bay, which you can also look forward to seeing more of in one of our upcoming issues. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

And the final award in the Housing category went to the Dune House (below) by Fearon Hay Architects, photographed by Patrick Reynolds. 

Onwards! Now to the Interior Architecture category, in which there were five winners. The first, the St Heliers Bay Bistro (below), by McKinney Windeatt Architects. Photograph by David Straight. 

Jasmax won an Interior Architecture award for their work on AUT's Sir Paul Reeves Building (below), which also won an award in the Education category. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Cheshire Architects garnered an Interior Architecture award for their work on Milse (below) in Auckland's Britomart precinct. Photograph by Jeremy Toth. 

The York Street Mechanics cafe (below) in Parnell, with an interior by Bureaux Architects, was another winner in the Interior Architecture category. Photograph by Samuel Hartnett. 

And the final Interior Architecture award went to CPRW Fisher for the Lincoln Road fitout (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Onto the Heritage category, where there were two winners. The Fox Street Office (below) was designed by Fearon Hay Architects and photographed by Jackie Meiring. 

The other winner in the Heritage category was Salmond Reed Architects for the Allendale House and Annex on Ponsonby Road (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Now Commercial Architecture, in which there were four winners. McKinney Windeatt Architects won an award in this category for their design of the Special Building, just behind Victoria Park Market (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Also in the Commercial Architecture category, Warren & Mahoney won an award for their work on the renovation of the ANZ Centre in Albert Street (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

RTA Studio won a Commercial Architecture award for the McKelvie Street shopping Precinct (below), which you might remember from our February/March issue. Photograph by Patrick Reynolds.

 

And the final Commercial Architecture award went to Jasmax for the Quad 5 office building at Auckland Airport (below), which also won a Sustainable Architecture Award. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

To the Education category, in which RTA Studio won an award for the St Kentigern College MacFarlan Centre (below). Photograph by Patrick Reynolds. 

Warren & Mahoney won an Education award for the Massey University Albany Student Amenities Centre (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Kay and Keys Architects won an Education category award for the Unitec Marae Stage 2 Wharekai (Manaaki) (below), photographed by Greg Kempthorne. 

Warren & Mahoney won another award in the Education category for the University of Auckland University Hall. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

In the Public Architecture category, Archoffice won an award for the refurbishment of the ASB Theatre at the Aotea Centre (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Warren & Mahoney won a Public Architecture Award for the Point Resolution Footbridge (below), just beside Auckland's Parnell Baths. Photograph by Patrick Reynolds. 

Jasmax won a Public Architecture award for the Muriwai Surf Lifesaving Club (below). Photograph by Kenneth Li. 

  

Also in Public Architecture, Glamuzina Paterson Architects and Hamish Monk Architect won an award for the Giraffe House (below) at the Auckland Zoo. Photograph by Mark Smith. 

In the Small Project Architecture category, Archoffice won an award for this Auckland Council Amenities building (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

Also winning a Small Project Award is the Arruba Bach by Bossley Architects (below), which you should look out for in an upcoming issue of HOME. Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

The House of Steel and Light (below) by Robin O'Donnell Architects also won a Small Project award. Photograph by Fraser Newman.

 

BVN Donovan Hill and Jasmax won an award in the Sustainable Architecture category for ASB North Wharf (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt. 

 

Finally, the Planning and Urban Design category, in which Sills Van Bohemen won an award for Takapuna's Hurstmere Green (below). Photograph by Simon Devitt.  

Construkt Architects and Isthmus Group won a Planning and Urban Design Award for the Sunderland Precinct comprehensive development plan in Auckland's Hobsonville Point (it's not developed yet, so there's no photo). 

And the final winner in this epic post is Matter and Auckland Transport, who designed this temporary installation on a disused part of Spaghetti Junction motorway to raise awareness of cycling. It won a Planning and Urban Design award. Photograph by Alex Wallace and Laura Forest.