New Zealand Institute of Architects Awards: Te Puke garden shed a winner

A shed in Te Puke won an award at the New Zealand Institute of Architects Waikato/Bay of Plenty awards. Photo / Patrick Loo

Alongside baches, family homes and commercial developments, a humble garden shed on a Te Puke farm has been named an architectural winner.

The Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Waikato Bay of Plenty architecture awards were held in Tauranga tonight.

The Te Puke potting shed, which doubles as a washing line and a shelter for Jenny and Andrew Natusch's ute, took out an award for Best Small Project Architecture, alongside a DoC hut-inspired home in the foothills of the Kaimai Range, a Pāpāmoa beach house and a studio beside a Bethlehem restaurant.

Common Space Architect Claire Natusch, who designed the shed for her dairy farmer
and kiwifruit grower parents described the structure as "a utility space made beautiful".

A cow got into the garden a week before the judges came to view the shed, so for her mum Jenny, the win came as quite a shock.

"When I think of award-winning architecture, I think of high-profile houses and beautiful
kitchen or bathroom renovations," she said.

"But to me, this shed is just as important as a kitchen or bathroom, because we use it every day."

The process of designing the space with her architect daughter was a delight, Jenny said.

The materials used - including chicken wire, rough-hewn timber, and a 1950s copper trough salvaged from the cowshed - were affordable and sit perfectly within the context of their rural property.

There was a bit of everything at the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Waikato Bay of Plenty architecture awards. Photo / Patrick Loo

Small design features such as the position and angle of the clothesline taking into consideration sunlight hours and the prevailing wind, make using the space all the more
pleasurable.

People are often surprised to hear they have an architecturally designed shed, she said.

"When they think of sheds, they think of going along to Bunnings to buy a prefab. But this is eminently more usable, more functional and more enjoyable. We're so lucky to have Claire."

Other winners on the night include a Strachan Group Architects-designed luxury home on
the banks of the Pungapunga River at Whangapoua beach, a Tokoroa CBD redevelopment
for the South Waikato District Council by DCA Architects of Transformation, and an eco-friendly waterfront lodge in Te Puna, constructed using timber grown on-site, designed by Brendon Gordon Architects.

Rotorua's Scion Innovation Hub - Te Whare Nui o Tuteata and Hamilton CDB building
Urban HQ took out the awards for commercial architecture, with awards for housing also going to properties in Hamilton, Mount Maunganui, Raglan, Otama beach, and Whangamatā.

Scion Innovation Hub - Te Whare Nui o Tuteata. Photo / Patrick Reynolds

Two Enduring Architecture Awards were presented for buildings 25 years or older that have stood the test of time.

The first went to the former Putāruru Post Office, by Beehive architect Fergus Sheppard, built in 1970.

Judges described the South Waikato building, now a food court, as a "beacon of modernist architecture in New Zealand".

The second Enduring Architecture Award went to a 1987 earth-sheltered concrete house in Omori, on Lake Taupō, by WATT architects.

Judges described the holiday home as "a snapshot and reminder of a time when building was more experimental".