HOT HOUSES
“That was harder than expected!” seemed to be the most-oft-repeated phrase after we asked some of New Zealand’s leading architects and former Urbis editors to select their favourite home or public space from the last 20 years. We completely understand the sentiment. With such high-calibre structures being designed and built locally in recent years (many of them by the very same people featured here), it is like asking a musician to pick their favourite phrase. Nonetheless, they pulled through with a veritable symphony of influences and expressions.
SEASCAPE RETREAT
(Banks Peninsula, 2011) by Patterson Associates
I came across this house when I was Convenor of the NZIA National Awards. Travelling to it was magical: a lovely drive via Purau and Port Levy to Pigeon Bay, then bumping along on a classic Kiwi 4WD farm track, stopping to open and close gates, before descending into a remote, dramatic bay, where the only sign of human habitation was this stunning dwelling. It sits embedded in the land, with the earth peeling up and over: a one-bedroomed retreat with breathtaking views across the bay to a distant rocky headland. It is very much of its place with local volcanic stone cladding, angular forms and tussock roof. Everything about it, from the long journey to the site, the
