KEY POINTS:
A copper-clad house on the Kaipara Harbour, a new loo in Whangarei and Neil Finn's recording studios in Newton were some of the more unusual winners in the latest architecture awards.
The Institute of Architects announced Auckland awards yesterday, honouring 31 buildings, including office blocks, schools, a cycleway, houses and three churches.
The 31 winners are now eligible for national awards announced in May.
The judging panel headed by Nicholas Stevens of Stevens Lawson praised the copper-clad house at Helensville by Crosson Clarke Carnachan for being beautifully crafted and superbly constructed, with robust forms in a tough landscape.
Whangarei Intermediate's new toilet block by Esveld Architects was lauded for being hygienic and fresh, with natural lighting and "being a thoughtful and imaginative approach to solving every-day requirements for the school".
Neil Finn's Roundhead Studios by Matthews & Matthews created a perfect pitch for a creative environment. The building has double-glazed stained-glass windows.
The North Shore's Onepoto cycle and walkway by Beca Architects crosses an outlet to the harbour from an inland waterway and won for its sculptural form "which both delights and contains, rising far above a pragmatic civil engineering approach".
The Wilson Home Chapel at Takapuna won a 25-year enduring architecture award. The chapel, by Haughey & Fox Partners, was built in 1965 in the grounds of the Wilson Home for children with disabilities.
A new building in the same grounds, Wilson School, by Opus Architecture, was acclaimed for creating an uplifting and caring environment for teachers and children.
A second church took another award. Warren and Mahoney's restoration and upgrade of St Patrick's Cathedral in the CBD's Wyndham St won for returning the building to something very close to its original form and condition.
Judges said they were "enchanted" by a third church, the Waterfall Chapel at Whangarei by South Pacific Architecture.
A local farmer and people in the area built this structure overlooking a 10m waterfall. The chapel is a place for worship for a remote rural community.
The original Colin McCahon Cottage at Titirangi won a colour award, sponsored by Resene, for recreating the original paint scheme, including a startling pea-green kitchen and oxblood weatherboards. Pearson & Associates was praised for its inspired conservation and restoration.
Two dual-family houses won: Scarlet Architects' Newmarket Whare Mahangi created for two families who are friends and Cantilever Architects' Seafield View houses in Grafton for two sisters and their families.
Auckland University's new business school by FJMT+Archimedia won for its technical finesse.
Architectus Auckland won awards for the Old Boys' Pavilion at Auckland Grammar School, praised for being a strong and clear concept; Waitakere Civil Defence Headquarters at Henderson was described as "an intriguing hybrid building"; and the Queen St upgrade expressed a Pacific identity through vegetation, paving, street furniture, lighting, art and open spaces.
A Belmont house on Seacliff Ave by Cook Sargisson Tarrant & Pirie won for displaying a rich palette of materials, and a Great Barrier Island house by Fearon Hay Architects won for its bold simplicity. A Clifton Rd house in Herne Bay by Daniel Marshall Architect won for simple manipulation of space.
