Projects & Journal

A modernist Christchurch home

Mawhitipana Beach House

Jo MacKay and Sam Curtis of MacKay Curtis Architecture were approached by the owners of this home with a simple brief: sun and views. They responded with an idea centred around connection to the outdoors and comprising a long deck with a glass box for living, over which hovers a timber box for sleeping.

Orakei Kitchen

Awaawaroa Bay

'The patrons of this home fell in love with this south-facing site and the idea of occupying it without formality and off-grid.

Poured Pleats

This unusual site has two street frontages, one occupied by an Edwardian villa, the other was a large lawn. This presented the opportunity to have a second front to the house, in the form of a significant addition that faces the rear street.

The Camp

The Camp is a pair of small structures sited on an estuarine headland. Each building uses a combination of exposed timber framework and timber shutters with natural oil finish. They perch on sloping land that descends to the waterline and are spaced to create a sheltered central space for outdoor living.

Courtyard House

This two-storey brick-wrapped courtyard home is a set of two gabled forms on a constrained site. Straddling commercial and residential zoning, with a heritage overlay, the design balances privacy from neighbouring buildings and maximises sun via a northerly courtyard.

Light Box

The project involved the removal of an existing lean-to living space at the back of a traditional Ponsonby villa, replaced by the addition of a contemporary light filled living zone, opening up completely to the rear yard.

Christchurch House

After seeing many masonry buildings lost in the Christchurch earthquake, this couple saw an opportunity to retain and enhance this 1940s character building.

Salmont Place

The site straddles Salamanca Road and Salmont Place on the edge of Wellington’s Botanical Gardens, with wonderful views east across the city to the harbour and west to Tinakori Hill.

Roys Peak House

A contemporary Mason & Wales Architects holiday house in Wanaka pays homage to the 'crib', the classic South island back-country tramping hut.

Manly Beach House