Winners announced: 2025 New Zealand Architecture Awards

This yr’s New Zealand Structure Awards jury was headed by Craig Moller of Moller Architects. Moller was joined by Beth Cameron from Makers of Structure, Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architects and Ilana Freadman from Freadman White Architects in Melbourne, Australia. The jury visited 61 short-listed initiatives throughout 11 classes throughout August.

Within the official convenor’s message, Moller commented on how the journey visiting initiatives throughout Aotearoa impressed, “the initiatives that had been visited? It’s a crash course in structure that not solely reveals the expertise of architects and their collaborators throughout New Zealand, but additionally demonstrates to me that I have to strive more durable. That’s the lesson I took away as jury convenor. Being on the jury tour is a self-reflective train as a lot as it’s an architectural tour. ”

Moller added, “Whereas the jury sometimes visits the principle centres of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, Ōtautahi Christchurch and Ōtepoti Dunedin, it was pleasing to go to a few of the smaller provincial cities and uncover that they’re properly represented with hidden gems within the city, suburban and rural material of those locations.”

The total convenor’s message, successful initiatives and citations can be found in print inside the particular 2025 New Zealand Structure Awards version of Structure NZ, obtainable to buy on-line from 21 November 2025.

View all the successful initiatives within the slideshow above, and browse on for the jury citations. The named awards could be seen by clicking the person hyperlinks beneath.

Sir Miles Warren Award for Industrial Structure

Ted McCoy Award for Schooling

Sir Ian Athfield Award for Housing

John Scott Award for Public Structure

Distinguished Fellow Award

HOUSING 

Popadich Home by Davor Popadich Architects

The judges mentioned: “This home is a delicate and understated insertion into its rural setting, with cautious and in depth plantings that each floor the constructing and supply shelter.

An L-shaped plan allows the home to adapt and reply to its setting, whereas the position of a separate studio completes the notion of a courtyard, forming a sheltered and recessed outside house. Planning is rigorously organised on a 600mm grid aligned with rafter spacings, permitting for value effectivity and a wide range of spatial outcomes. Easy kinds and a low-pitched roof with beneficiant eaves create a modest scale and a considerate relationship to the panorama.

Inside, the relaxed environment is supported by detailed and crafted finishes, extending to the customized wardrobe doorways and drawer pulls. The storage is acknowledged as a versatile, multi-functional house moderately than one solely for vehicles, reflecting the pragmatic wants of household life. Collectively, these qualities produce a house of quiet character, accommodating the complexities of household residing with readability and care.”

Bush Block by Patchwork Structure

The judges mentioned: “Regardless of a constrained finances, difficult website situations, and a pre-approved envelope, this home delivers each sensible and poetic options.

An elevated walkway with a storage hut replaces the storage, enriching the arrival sequence with twin objective. A easy field showcases environment friendly planning, revolutionary supplies, and theclarity of their utility. Roof lights and beneficiant apertures prolong the interiors into the encircling treescape, whereas the home each hovers above the forest ground and anchorsitself on a raised terrace.

Modest in scale, the mission demonstrates the numerous affect architects can ship inside tight constraints.”

Kaka Pod by Rafe Maclean Architects

The judges mentioned: “Finishing the second stage of a two-part vacation dwelling growth, this mission cleverly capitalised on a shady, underutilised nook of the positioning. The compact, triangular 60-square-meter dwelling positions itself as a panorama component inside a longtime native backyard. The shape follows the sloping topography, gently stepping down whereas its curved corners soften its presence on website and relationship with the prevailing dwelling.

Openings are thoughtfully positioned to border views, and skylights carry an abundance of pure gentle into the house whereas sustaining privateness. Inside timber brings heat, a way of consolation, and resilience, the place the outside curved kinds are echoed inside, enriching the expertise of the constructing’s kind. A bunkroom loft, accessed by ladder, utilises the beneficiant double-height house, extending the house’s capability in an enthralling method.”

Openfield Home by Keshaw McArthur and Matheson Whiteley (UK) in affiliation

The judges mentioned: “This assured composition of stacked platonic kinds holds its floor towards the huge scale of the panorama and volatility of the setting.

A corrugated roof recollects the area’s vernacular constructions, whereas sculpted earth mounds each cradle and defend the home, settling it firmly into the foothills.

Inside, geometric rigour is expressed by a nine-square grid. Sliding screens play towards sturdy concrete components to animate the inside, whereas the principle suite, carved into the roof void, is topped by an oculus that gathers gentle and telescopes the view.

All through, refinement is obvious within the acute consideration to materiality, tonal concord, and texture, all hallmarks of a design of excessive calibre.”

HOUSING ALTERATIONS AND ADDITIONS

Berhampore Perimeter Home by STUDIO MYLA

The judges mentioned: “This new addition to one of many “5 Sisters’ Homes” positioned in Rintoul Avenue efficiently integrates the brand new with the previous whereas sustaining the identification for every. The brand new addition engages with the perimeter of the positioning and supplies a uncommon city edge to the road in its suburban setting.

The supplies of the addition are fastidiously chosen to respect the concrete construction of the prevailing home, however equally create a juncture between the 2 with refined brick coursework and a refined therapy of the openings. The brand new areas are light-filled and delightfully interact with the contours of the positioning, offering an creative resolution to home residing with a mixture of new and previous.”

Wainui Church Conversion by Warren and Mahoney and Objects LTD in affiliation

The judges mentioned: “The conversion of this church right into a household vacation house is a respectful but creative transformation, championing sustainable adaptive re-use. The restoration and preservation of the prevailing constructing has been undertaken with sensitivity and rigor, honouring the integrity of the unique church’s development and sustaining its exterior identification inside its authentic context.

The cautious insertion of a contemporary mezzanine sleeping house, coupled with a kitchen and comfortable beneath, is clearly recognized by its juxtaposing materiality and color identification, whereas a three-tier bunk room and toilet match neatly on the rear. A big over-wall sliding door with privateness display screen is the one apparent envelope adaptation; a well-handled transfer that connects the inside to the outside courtyard and signifies the constructing’s new use as a reimagined household vacation dwelling.”

Alberon by Jack McKinney Architects

The judges mentioned: “A brand new entry positioned between the heritage villa and rear addition unlocked the potential of this mission. A transparent separation of previous and new is expressed by materials selection and architectural element. The 2-storey addition creates a lofty, open-plan residing house with a contemplative high quality, seamlessly extending to a terraced backyard by elegant big metal doorways. A north-facing deck edges the residing space, its louvered display screen wall offering privateness from the densely populated slope past. Meticulous detailing throughout each renovation and addition creates a wealthy dialogue between previous and current.”

HOUSING – MULTI UNIT

Catalina Bay Residences by Architectus

The judges mentioned: “The Catalina Bay Residences set a benchmark for high-density residing within the Hobsonville space with a diverse city kind and response to its context. The constructing cleverly sleeves a row of three-level townhouses to hide the above grade automobile parking behind, whereas two house tower blocks sit on prime.

The design responds to a viewshaft constraint throughout the positioning with the constructing mass damaged into two tower blocks of unequal heights. There’s a readability within the design final result with a clearly expressed structural grid of the house blocks populated with infill partitions and balcony zones whereas the townhouses are clad in brick to differentiate them from the towers behind. The mission efficiently creates and establishes an city edge to the growing precinct.”

PLANNING & URBAN DESIGN 

Te Ara Pekapeka by Edwards White Architects and BBO in affiliation

The judges mentioned: “This bridge embodies a sublime and deeply woven collaboration, with all events shifting as one in the direction of a shared imaginative and prescient. Serving as each gateway and threshold, it supplies a significant crossing for pedestrians whereas framing the expertise of automobiles passing beneath.

Greater than infrastructure, it’s a lovely sculptural piece of structure that brings dynamism and presence to a spot that may in any other case have been outlined by a purely purposeful engineering resolution. The construction is intentionally held off the water to respect its cultural significance to Māori, minimising environmental affect whereas honouring the heritage of the website.

Infrastructure is seamlessly built-in, with weathering metal delivering sturdiness. Security — in each use and maintenance — has been essential to the mission’s success. Unlocking a strong transport community and connecting the Peacocke suburb with town of Hamilton, the bridge stands as each a sublime work of structure and a catalyst for future growth and entry.”

George Avenue, Dunedin Retail Quarter by Jasmax

The judges mentioned: “This mission efficiently creates a shared house unfold over 4 blocks of George Avenue in central Dunedin. The streetscape efficiently blends and prioritises pedestrian actions along with vehicular actions to boost the consumer expertise for each in addition to supporting the retail setting of the central metropolis.

Components of play are inserted into the framework which, along with planting and seating, present moments of relaxation for youngsters and adults alike. The design of the 4 blocks represents an engagement with native iwi and incorporates paintings into the constructed setting with paving and artworks. The mission is a profitable reinvigoration of the city setting in Dunedin.”

PUBLIC ARCHITECTURE

Punangairi Customer Centre by Sheppard and Rout

The judges mentioned: “The Punangairi Customer Centre sits with sensitivity and concord inside its gorgeous panorama at Punakaiki on the West Coast whereas additionally enhancing native identification and visibility.

Elevated on pile foundations, the constructing is nestled inside the website’s undulating contours. Timber posts, used each structurally and decoratively, echo the rhythm of surrounding nīkau palm groves. The scalloped ground plan responds to an present garden, presenting a beneficiant foreground whereas delicately pulling the constructing again from the busy highway. A gently sloping inexperienced roof responds to the encircling tree cover, whereas additionally aiding within the administration of heavy rainfall. Inside, lofty light-filled areas generously join the constructing with its environment.

This sustainable customer centre not solely helps regenerative tourism but additionally delivers lasting advantages to the local people and economic system.”

Te Āhuru Mōwai by structure +

The judges mentioned: “An elegantly restrained mission in Feilding that reorganises an present library facility by inserting a brand new axial association that connects to the broader context of group and civic areas and supplies an inner organisation gadget to attach new rooms and areas with present ones. This axis permits for a number of makes use of of the areas each through the day and after hours.

The outside interface with the road community is up to date to offer factors of entry to the north and south and privateness to the areas in addition to incorporate Māori motifs developed along side native iwi. A profitable mission that updates and reinvigorates an present facility to offer continued use for the group.”

SMALL PROJECT ARCHITECTURE

BB Home by Upoko Architects

The judges mentioned: “This home demonstrates how considerate design can remodel a remarkably small footprint into a totally realised dwelling for a single occupant. On simply 6×6 metres, a easy gabled kind supplies a transparent and chic presence, whereas the format explores another technique for suburban residing.

Privateness is fastidiously maintained regardless of shut proximity to neighbours, with window heights strategically set to make sure walkers and bike riders on the adjoining walkway can’t see inside. A cleverly screened courtyard provides seclusion and intimate outside connection, whereas the recessed bathtub opening to the courtyard balances openness with privateness.

The bed room challenges standard expectations of latest residing. Superbly detailed and meticulously thought-about, the mission proves that scale needn’t compromise richness of expertise, providing a compact but beneficiant dwelling that delights at each flip.”

Walker Field by Micah / Structure

The judges mentioned: “A recent and creative method to city densification, this tower home by the owner-architect reworked a non-existent website into a possibility. The architect makes use of the caveat of offering parking for the first website to create attention-grabbing formal outcomes.

Tackling the constraints of dimension, finances, and buildability with aptitude, the constructing accommodates work, sleep and residing throughout three compact ranges threaded collectively by a filigree spiral stair. Though the shape and detailing pay homage to Roger Walker (after whom the mission is called), the geometric purity of the tower and the extremely resolved fenestration compositions showcase the architect’s personal oeuvre.”

Karanga Altering Sheds by Pac Studio

The judges mentioned: “A chic response to a minimal transient. These altering sheds carry theatrical delight to Auckland’s waterfront whereas championing sustainable design rules.

Assembled with the care and precision of superb joinery, the sheds are constructed utilizing pre-consumer waste supplies and recycled ocean plastic panels.

Designed in partnership with Eke Panuku Improvement Auckland, the sheds not solely present vibrancy and enjoyable for customers, however their requirement to carry out inside the public realm demanded inherent consideration to long-term resilience and security.”

COMMERCIAL 

Strip Mall by Spacecraft Architects

The judges mentioned: “This mission brings mixed-use facilities frequent in bigger cities to provincial New Zealand.

Situated on a nook website, the ground-floor tenancies characteristic wrap-around shopfronts and awnings that activate each streets. A planted courtyard enhances the road, serving as a forecourt and backdrop for the first-floor house and offering outside house for the tenancies.

Strong development is balanced by revolutionary use of supplies and shade. The house’s easy format is designed to permit for future adaptive reuse.

This formidable mixed-use mission serves as a mannequin for future developments, aligning with the owner-occupiers’ intentions for a second-stage growth.”

303 Remuera Street by Fearon Hay Architects

The judges mentioned: “Designed as a marker, this constructing has grow to be a brand new benchmark for its suburban strip.

Peak and bulk are fastidiously managed by staggered vertical bays of concrete frames infilled with terracotta blades that present each privateness and shading to the places of work inside. At avenue degree, a totally glazed frontage wraps an inner nook, transitioning right into a double top laneway.

This laneway, a sublime and hard-won resolution, doubles as an exterior foyer that generously accommodates vehicles and pedestrians.

Strong within the macro and delicate within the micro, the constructing’s bespoke fixtures and nuanced surfaces are emblematic of the design-led choices all through this growth.”

BNZ Place by Jasmax

The judges mentioned: “BNZ Place efficiently addresses the challenges of designing a industrial workplace in a seismic zone whereas additionally assembly the wants of the shopper and tenants. At floor degree, it makes a optimistic contribution to the streetscape, notably in response to Wellington’s winds.

Situated on one of many metropolis’s windiest corners, the constructing enhances the pedestrian expertise by a double-height foyer and a precast concrete colonnade — components appreciated by each occupants and passersby. The constructing supplies a sheltered and but clear outside rooftop house that’s uncommon within the context of Wellington.

The shape and curtain wall reply to the challenges of viewshafts, wind, and the ‘skinned’ nature of high-rise constructions. That is achieved by refined selection in its curved façade and thoroughly spaced mullions.”

EDUCATION 

Ngā Mokopuna by Tennant Brown Architects

The judges mentioned: “This mission exemplifies forward-thinking and environmentally accountable design, attaining a Residing Constructing Problem final result that units a brand new benchmark for sustainable structure.

An revolutionary full timber construction developed in shut collaboration with the engineer delivers a sublime and pioneering contribution to advancing timber expertise. Heat, light-filled interiors are enriched by built-in planter bins that recycle water, whereas stormwater harvesting throughout each buildings and in depth use of solar energy underscore a holistic method to vitality and useful resource conservation.

A central atrium with an offset stair fosters openness, connection and motion, with its dynamic planning including spatial richness to the inside expertise. By way of a synthesis of architectural ingenuity, environmental duty and collaborative experience, this mission exemplifies the way forward for sustainable buildings.”

AUT Tukutuku by Jasmax

The judges mentioned: “AUT Tukutuku efficiently stitches collectively new and previous buildings round a standard atrium to create a brand new gathering place with a collection of instructing areas that create a brand new coronary heart on the AUT North Campus.

The constructing makes and permits for connections throughout the positioning to the prevailing library, in addition to cross-campus pedestrian connections. The instructing areas are light-filled but additionally management daylight to attenuate photo voltaic achieve and vitality consumption.

The outside of the constructing has been fastidiously modulated to manage views and outlooks. The present constructing has been given a lightweight refresh inside the budgetary constraints. Timber expertise is deployed for the brand new construct components to cut back the carbon footprint of the constructing and act as an exemplar for future growth.”

Hiwa – College of Auckland Recreation and Wellness Centre by Warren and Mahoney  and MJMA Structure & Design Toronto

The judges mentioned: “Positioned on the coronary heart of the coed precinct, this revolutionary and technologically superior Recreation and Wellness Centre is devoted to enhancing college students’ social, bodily, and psychological wellbeing.

The stacked and split-sectional design is anchored round a central circulation core, the place a variety of single- and double-height areas promote a broad vary of actions. Flexibility and built-in applied sciences enable for areas to vary use effectively.

Whereas the constructing bridges a fancy change in degree, its reference to the outside setting is skilled at many ranges; the subterranean pool’s roof construction doubles as a playful faceted panorama knoll, whereas the open-air taking part in fields and observe on the roof present expansive outlooks. The exterior faceted stainless-steel fins mirror the environment and every day situations.

This mission is a testomony to its long-term collaborative design mannequin.”

ENDURING ARCHITECTURE 

Craig Home (1998) by Thom Craig

The judges mentioned: “This dwelling supplied a direct problem to suburban residing on the time of its conception and stays each related and provocative in its questioning of conference at this time.

At its coronary heart, a twin stair association establishes round and versatile circulation, enabling a number of makes use of and adapting with the altering wants of a rising household.

The panorama wall extending to the outside orchestrates layers of foreground, mid-ground and much view, situating the house inside its wider context. A rigorously examined planning logic — nonetheless placing 25 years on — demonstrates how constraints of the positioning, together with the constructing envelope, had been navigated to stay absolutely compliant with the rules whereas reworking limitations into alternative.

A central rest room core anchors the plan and creates adaptability on both aspect, reinforcing the mission’s enduring capability for evolution. By way of its daring spatial methods and considerate website response, this home stands as an enduring instance of structure that continues to problem and encourage.”

Tabak Home (1984) by Sheppard and Rout

The judges mentioned: “Constructed in 1984, Tabak Home not solely marked the inauguration of Shephard and Rout as a follow however stays a compelling and related timepiece.

Sensitively sited overlooking Governors Bay, the house’s lofty set of gable kinds arrange a rhythmic geometry, the place the house shifts, connects and responds to its panorama and established gardens.

On entrance, the house provides a welcoming journey of compression and growth, the place clearly articulated circulation attracts connection by the house to beneficiant double-height residing areas whereas pleasant openings join higher and decrease ranges. The integrity of the house’s construction and heat timber materiality have been fastidiously maintained and up to date the place required, guaranteeing its architectural authenticity could be loved by all who expertise the dwelling.”

Adam Artwork Gallery (1999) by Athfield Architects

The judges mentioned:“A intelligent insertion on a difficult, constrained website, the Adam Artwork Gallery encapsulates an present panorama stair, sustaining connectivity between buildings whereas proposing a spatially dynamic fashionable gallery expertise — one which continues to problem the norms of ‘show’.

The Gallery’s towering rectangular kind comprises a dynamic and layered inside, the place the expansive quantity could be skilled as a complete, in addition to a vertically layered framework permitting paintings to be engaged with from many vantage factors.

Regardless of having a constrained finances on the time, the zinc-clad design maximises sturdiness, resilience and aesthetic cohesion. The constructing displays the architect’s intent, one which speaks to an understated presence whereas guaranteeing enduring worth and relevance 26 years on.”

HERITAGE ARCHITECTURE 

Chapel of the Higher Room – Renovations & Strengthening by Wilkie + Bruce Architects

The judges mentioned: “The restoration of the Chapel of the Higher Room has efficiently reinstated the center of this much-loved and admired school for Canterbury College designed by Warren and Mahoney. The architects have sensitively inserted new structural metal components to offer much-needed seismic bracing on the roof degree, in addition to wrapping the structural columns in carbon fibre in a manner that seems invisible at first look.

Different areas of the chapel have been upgraded with care and thought to not diminish the standard of the inside house of the Chapel. The outside of the constructing stays unchanged and because it was when initially constructed within the Sixties.”

Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery by Warren and Mahoney 

The judges mentioned: “Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery by Warren and Mahoney is a quietly highly effective restoration of a much-loved cultural landmark. The reinstated galleries carry gentle and life again into the center of the constructing, whereas fastidiously built-in seismic upgrades — concrete partitions nearly invisible inside the inside — guarantee resilience with out disturbing the spatial expertise.

New stonework and a revised parapet have been thoughtfully inserted, subtly enriching the prevailing material. A reimagined opening elegantly hyperlinks the unique areas to the brand new gallery additions, growing exhibition capability whereas sustaining a way of intimacy and continuity.

By way of its delicate stability of heritage and up to date intervention the mission demonstrates a rigorous consideration to element, materiality, and spatial storytelling, leading to a gallery that’s each enduring and alive.”

Te Ruamātatoru – He Whata Kai by Dalgleish Architects

The judges mentioned: “A superbly reconstructed pātaka sits on the centre of a group and has grow to be the center and focus of a wider academic program for mokopuna of the native iwi to have interaction them in a wider garden-to-table academic program.

The architects have fastidiously measured an present pātaka, and dealing along side the kaumātua, have up to date the development expertise to go well with the modern-day constructed setting. A mission which respects the previous however seems to the future.”

HOSPITALITY 

Te Mānia by Stevens Lawson Architects

The judges mentioned: “Conceived as an ‘anti-house’, this mission challenges conference by three buildings dispersed throughout the positioning. The pivotal social pavilion is extroverted and sculptural, its pinwheel of apertures body and connecting with the panorama. Clad in patinaed weathering metal, it encloses a luxuriously detailed inside of darkish timber, stone, and angled planes that create dynamic spatial experiences.

In distinction, two semi-buried bed room sanctuaries are recessive and serpentine, their off-shutter concrete and light-toned interiors forming cocoon-like retreats.

Idiosyncratic and assertive, the mission redefines the retreat typology.”

Sugarloaf at Flockhill by Hierarchy Group

The judges mentioned: “Set inside a dramatic alpine panorama, this restaurant adopts a easy gable kind with a powerful cross axis, fastidiously oriented to border views and nestled amongst the encircling beech forest.

Inside, a wealthy palette of pure supplies evokes the environment of an expensive alpine lodge on a grand scale, whereas the uncovered construction introduces a rhythmic order and the heat of pure timber. The arrival sequence is anchored by a spectacular central hearth, making a memorable point of interest for friends.

Each materials selection is deliberate and refined, from sturdy timbers to intricate detailing, with a particular steampunk aesthetic delivered to life on the chef’s desk within the open kitchen.

Underpinned by a rigorous grid the place all proportions hint again to this foundational order, the design achieves a stability of grandeur, intimacy and precision. The result’s an alpine eating expertise that’s each dramatic and immersive, celebrating place, craft and hospitality.” 

The New Zealand Structure Awards obtain beneficiant help from Resene, a steadfast sponsor of this system since 1991, and APL, which commenced its sponsorship of the awards in 2021.