Local Architecture Awards 2023

from Marlborough Magazine - Aug/Sept 2023

Jamming for jazz

KĀHUI WHAIHANGA NEW ZEALAND INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS (NZIA)

Honouring the finest architecture in the country, the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA) announced this year’s winners, chosen from 17 shortlisted projects, in their local awards for the Marlborough and Nelson regions. The awards provide a platform for celebrating some of the most innovative and inspiring designs in the country. The architectural practices behind an epic wine centre, a Studio House and an incredible housing alteration have all scooped awards at a celebration of the Top of the South’s best architecture, held at The Suter Art Gallery in Nelson.

Promoting and celebrating outstanding architecture and creating greater awareness of the values and benefits well-designed buildings and public spaces can bring to cities and towns, the NZIA represents over four thousand members. Established in 1905, NZIA were gifted a new name in 2019 and represent more than 90 percent of all registered architects throughout the country.

The projects, three of which also received a Resene Colour Award, received a prestigious Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Architecture Award across seven award categories. Awards jury convenor, Min Hall says all of the projects they visited responded to the comparatively rural nature of the region. “We tended to see buildings that reflected that characteristic quite strongly, even in the residential categories. The architects have taken the rural vernacular as a guide, using simple pragmatic forms. There was also an encouraging consciousness of environmental and sustainable issues overall, and we were pleased to see much more openness to acknowledging te ao Māori in the public projects.”

Winning the Commercial Architecture award and recipients of a Resene Colour Award, Jerram Tocker Barron Architects wowed judges with their aweinspiring design of The New Zealand Wine Centre – Te Pokapū Wāina o Aotearoa. Judges say the centre for grape and wine research exhibits a sensitive response to place, and the wider environment, while providing a focal point for a number of disparate elements. Given a complex relationship between existing buildings, this new addition seamlessly draws them all together, they say, with the large verandah making a strong entrance statement, drawing users in from the surrounding courtyard, and providing a collaborative public space.

Jerram Tocker Barron Architects were also winners of the Housing – Multi Unit category with their entry Maitahi Quarter Townhouses – a multi-unit project that overlooks Nelson’s Maitai River. In the Public Architecture category, the Motueka Public Library –Te Noninga Kumu also secured a win, thus scoring a trifecta for Jerram Tocker Barron Architects.

Marlborough-based Rural Workshop Architecture also won three awards across three categories; Commercial, Housing, and Housing – Alterations and Additions. Founded by architects Chris Nott and Jarrod Midgley, Rural Workshop Architecture wowed judges with their entries, Real Workspace, Awatere Hilltop House, and Head of the Bay. A modern interpretation of the typical rural shed, Real Workspace houses a functional and pleasant workspace for multiple businesses and was awarded in the Commercial category. Awatere Hilltop House won in the Housing section and received a prestigious Resene colour award. Responding strongly to ‘the client, the site and its environment’ the judges say the use of iconic Resene Pioneer Red on the stunning hilltop home transforms a ‘good design into a memorable and pleasing form that references a historic vernacular’. Their Marlborough Sounds project, Head of the Bay, rounds out the wins for Rural Workshop Architecture, receiving an award in the Housing – Alterations and Additions category.

Paul Rolfe Architects also received recognition in the Commercial Architecture category with their entry, Cellar One, Cloudy Bay Vineyards. Judges noted that the teamwork between architect, engineer, contractor, and winemaker is obvious and ‘structural interventions were clearly expressed, giving new life and light to an otherwise rigid concrete shell’.

The Alpine Lodge in St Arnaud by architect Ian Jack received recognition as winners of the Enduring Architecture Award. Built in 1984 and firmly embedded in its mountain landscape, judges say Lake Rotoiti’s Alpine Lodge is as relevant and popular today as it was 40 years ago.

The four-person jury consisted of architect Min Hall, Siân Taylor of Team Green Architects, Jonathan Fraser of Studio Pacific, and architect Sarah Pickens. Each juror visited the shortlisted projects before selecting the winners.