The 29 winners include a groundbreaking building inspired by the journey of Te Arawa that houses counselling services, an illuminated translucent holiday home, and a tiny home for hobbits.

Jury convenor, architect Matt Grant says that the judges were impressed by the presence of te ao Māori in projects in many categories. Hamilton Kirikiriroa Airport, Te Rito O Manaaki Ora, Wai Ariki and Te Kura o Manunui are amongst the winning projects that have been imbued with a deep sense of Māori culture and design.

“From simple fit-outs to major commercial work, it's clear that in our region, iwi consultation is taken very seriously and Māori-influenced architecture is thriving,” says Grant. “These forms are incredibly innovative and the potential for them to inform resilient, affordable construction is massive.”

The use of colour to transform the experience of being in a building is another theme found in a handful of this year’s winners. Six projects will receive Resene Colour Awards. “Colour is being taken seriously by architects as a method of affecting an environment; from rich, bright and vibrant colours, to cool, relaxing and calming hues,” says Grant.

Unconventional projects make an appearance too. Summerhill Pavilions ’21 and ’22, a winner in the Small Project Architecture category, pushes the definition of architecture to its limit, with wall-less, latticework timber shelters inspired by ancient Japanese and Māori craftsmanship. The Chodge, a holiday home that is shaped like a woolshed and is constructed from illuminated fibreglass so as to be seen from afar, reinvents the idea of a rural dwelling. And the Hobbit homes nestled by Tilt Architecture into a hillside at Hobbiton, are similarly unconventional, and awarded in the Commercial Architecture category for their ability to transport visitors to Middle Earth.

Convenor architect Matt Grant was joined on the jury by Malcolm Taylor of Malcolm Taylor and Associates, Carl de Leeuw of WSP Architecture, Colette McCartney of GHD Design, and lay juror Anna Wilkinson from Area Design, Hamilton.

View all the winners and read citations here.

Commercial Architecture

Te Rito O Manaaki Ora by DCA Architects of Transformation

Bricks and Mortar by Edwards White Architects

MADE by Edwards White Architects

Wai Ariki by RCG and Pukeroa Oruawhata Lakefront Holdings in association

Hobbiton Bagshot Row by Tilt Architecture

Ibex Lighting by Wingate Architects

Education

The Pā by Architectus, Jasmax and Design Tribe

Te Kura o Manunui by ASC Architects

Tauranga Boys’ College — New Teaching Block by Designgroup Stapleton Elliott

Housing

Whareroa by Bossley Architects

Matua Masterclass by Brendon Gordon Architects

French Pass House by Christopher Beer Architect

The Chodge by DCA Architects of Transformation

Coromandel House by Evelyn McNamara Architecture

Lake Taupō House by RTA Studio

Grace by Stevens Lawson Architects

House on a hill by Stufkens + Chambers Architects

Stud Farm Residence by Sumich Chaplin Architects

Housing—Alterations & Additions

He Iti Ake by Architecture Bureau

Housing—Multi Unit

Hills Residences by Edwards White Architects

Interior Architecture

Hamilton Kirikiriroa Airport by AWA Architects

Baker Tilly Staples Rodway Fitout by Chow:Hill Architects

Public Architecture

Puna Kaukau o Te Oko Horoi — Perry Aquatic Centre by Architecture HDT

Te Kete Aronui Rototuna Library by Chow:Hill Architects

Hamilton Gardens, Ancient Egyptian Garden by Peddle Thorp Architects

Small Project Architecture

Summerhill Pavilions ‘21 & ‘22 by Andrew Barrie Lab

Whare Mīmīrū by Dr Anthony Hoete and Dr Jeremy Treadwell in association

The Garden Room by Edwards White Architects

Enduring Architecture

Cranwell Place (1970) by Noel D’Arcy Blackburn