Award-winning Anawhata bolthole in the bush celebrates the simple life

One of the most exciting things about our big design awards is seeing how innovative designers are when working with simple, compact design briefs.

This year’s 2023 Regional ADNZ Resene Architectural Design Awards are a good example, and the Auckland-Northland winners have plenty to celebrate.

And it’s a clever bolthole in the Anawhata bush that has us excited. Paul Davidson of Paul Davidson Architecture + Design was recognised with a Regional Award for New Home up to 150m² Award for the project.

Located deep in Waitakere Ranges Regional Park, Anawhata House is a modern take on New Zealand’s rural vernacular. It’s a simple and compact rectilinear building with its gable ends “sliced off”, and it provides both shelter and immersion in a wild environment.

The dark exterior blends into the bush, while a backlit polycarbonate screen illuminates the entry to a warm timber interior.

The judges said there are many small and delicate houses dotting the bush-clad slopes near Anawhata, “but this small house provides two bedrooms in a surprisingly small footprint, with a carefully finessed exterior to match the gorgeous interior.

“Several features of this building provide small moments of joy – the dark tiled shower that opens straight out to the bush, the wall of translucent sheathing showing off some super-crisp timber stud work, and the carefully detailed storage facilities built into the walls.

“Most of all, the mezzanine balustrade that doubles as a bookcase, and the way the sun pours into the living space makes everyone dream of living on a hillside like this”

An unusual wedge-shaped house in Russell designed by David Maurice, LTD Architectural Design Studio won a Regional – Commended award for a New Home up to 150m².

The brief was to take a steep, southwest-facing, exposed site and create a home that would have a high thermal performance, and maximise views of the harbour, while reducing its visual impact on the environment. It also had to stay within a limited budget.

“With the awareness to the environment, the small economical footprint demanded careful planning of the spaces to allow for a place to work from home along with accommodation for guests,” the designer said.

The judges said the wedge-shaped house is like an arrow pointing south, nestled in the lush surrounding bush. “It features stunning westerly views overlooking the harbour, while a small careful footprint is hidden within a timber batten and weathering-steel exterior.”

David Maurice of LTD Architectural Design Studio also won a Regional Award for Residential Alterations and Additions for a Takapuna project titled Park Avenue Alteration.

This existing 1970s house required a major overhaul, with areas of stucco and shingle cladding deteriorating in the harsh seaside environment. “The aim was to provide a robust shell to protect the building for the next 50 years and beyond,” the designer says.

“The building had an unusual form, perhaps influenced by the planning constraints of the time. Rather than alter the envelope drastically, it was decided to largely maintain it and retain some of the inherent uniqueness and interest.”

The judges praised the way the home has been modernised and updated as much as possible within the constrained envelope. “Key sculptural moves, like boxing out the angled walls and creating modern features with cladding on the street facade, effectively bring the home into the 21st-century.

“Simplified cladding choices and restrained natural textures are exhibited in the exterior presented to the neighbourhood. This is a successful modernisation inside and out, which is a giant step for sustainability with the choice made to work within the existing home instead of knocking down and rebuilding.”

Scott Fowler, Architektur Ltd won the Regional Award for a New Home between 150m² and 300m² with Riddell Rd House in Glendowie, Auckland.

Fowler says this house was designed for clients that wanted to subdivide the property, building one house for themselves to retire in, on the front of the site. The rear house was designed to be sold.

“The site’s topography lent itself quite nicely to the ability to have a two-storey house at the rear of the site, which would retain views above a single-storey house on front, thereby maximising the value of the rear house

The judges said the Mid-century-inspired house has a U-shaped plan wrapped around a 30-year-old olive tree, to give privacy and entrap the sun. The plan is grounded by an impressive stone wall along the south, over which the low-pitched roof floats, revealing trees beyond.”

Eman Yousef of Proconsult Ltd won the Regional Award for New Home over 300m² for Tāhuna in Wai-O-Taiki Bay.

The triangular property, next to a nature reserve, has long unimpeded views across the Tāmaki estuary from Music Point to the east and to the south as far as Mount Wellington. Lacking any close neighbours, the modern tilt-slab concrete panel house is designed for nature to enter it on all sides, with massive spectacles of sky, water and greenery flowing through. Concrete is softened with timber, the horizons balanced with vertical features.

The judges described it as “a very courageous, staunch response to the site, daring to open out in one direction while completely closing off from another”.

“Muscular, concrete panels provide an unflinching entry wall that in time will get hidden behind the planted edge, while inside, the angled plan offers a diagonal experience not expected from the outside.

“Careful timber louvres wrap over the external decks and into the dining room overlooking the pool. The interplay between inside and out continues with external finishes flowing inside, while internal viewpoints open outwards. A clever, sophisticated design.”

Madushin Amarasekera of Construkt Architects on the Regional Award for Multi-Unit Housing for Te Uru Walk-up Terraces in Hobsonville, Auckland.

The judges said as a welcoming gateway, Te Uru is well deserved of a regional award for the complex response to the challenge of creating quality medium-density housing.

Nestled in the intense Hobsonville development, Te Uru Terraces invites you in with a pōwhiri along Hobsonville Point Road and responds with simple geometric forms and excellent management of both indoor and outdoor space. Larger buildings at each end emphasise the street corners and show a welcome understanding of the value of the urban block.

Tony Pilkington of Sketch Architecture won a Commended award for Residential Alterations and Additions, for Remuera Rebuild.

Before-and-after images show the change to the original three-level duplex townhouse built in 1997. Before, it was a mixed architectural style with small internal spaces. And it was showing signs of moisture ingress – immediate attention was required.

The judges said both additions and alterations are executed here to refresh and modernise the multi-layered family home. “The new timber cladding successfully updates and futureproofs the project for generations to come. A refined material colour and textural palette complements the site context and sits fittingly with other contemporary homes of this genre.”

Full list of winners:

• Paul Davidson, Paul Davidson Architecture + Design
• David Maurice, LTD Architectural Design Studio
• Joe Long, LTD Architectural Design Studio
• Scott Fowler, Architektur Ltd
• Mark McLeay, Creative Arch
• Sam McCabe, Creative Arch
• Eman Yousef, Proconsult Ltd
• Anthony Lee, Archi-ON
• Owen Xing, X Studio Architects
• Xinwei Gu, WDA STUDIO
• Madushin Amarasekera, Construkt Architects
• Tony Pilkington, Sketch Architecture Ltd
• Romé Smit, Buildology
• Tim Wernham, Constructive Architecture