Spoilt for choice
Judges had a tough time deciding on a supreme winner at the recent 2023 National ADNZ Resene Architectural Design Awards, announcing joint title holders.
The award for Joint Supreme Winner and National Award for Commercial Architecture went to designer Darryl Church, of DCA Architects of Transformation, for the Heretaunga Intermediate School in Hastings. Also a joint supreme winner, plus recipient of the National Award for Multi-Unit Housing, was designer Madushin Amarasekera, of Construkt Architects, for the Te Uru walk-up Terraces in Hobsonville, Auckland.
Judges say the school project successfully balances critical community needs and functions, while also producing a beacon project that stands for the fun of coming together to learn.
“The exercise of balance is reflected in the exterior and interior colour symbolism, embodying the busyness and tranquillity of its prominent site. There is also balance in the elegance and robustness of both form and materiality. The simple extruded box volume successfully uses colour in both exterior and interior placement to highlight separate activity areas. The result is to create a distinctive and inviting playful building that entices students to discover the joys of learning within,” judges noted.
Te Uru Terraces is a worthy winner, showing the rest of Tāmaki Makaurau how to manage density done well, the judges found. Eight separate buildings provide a number of townhouses, with a common language of forms being individualised by colour, materials and textures into homes for all.
The design is a mix of three storey apartments and walk-ups, to meet a range of different buyers needs and offer architectural variety.
“The cultural history of the site is written into the façade in places, with careful weaving of patterns into the brickwork referencing the welcoming action that the buildings do, as both a karanga and a hongi to the incoming visitors,” say the judges. “This project does the hard mahi and is deserving of the highest praise.”
Christchurch architects won four national awards. These went to:
Aaron Jones of Urbanfunction, Residential Alterations and Additions.
Ben Brady of Linetype Architectural, for a New Home between 150m2 and 300m2.
Ben Comber and Josh Newsome-White of Studio Well, for a New Home between 150m2 and 300m2.
Barry Connor of Barry Connor Design, for Commercial Interiors and Fitouts.
