Six architectural projects across the upper South Island have been recognised this year in Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects’ Local Awards, spanning a range of projects from coastal Marlborough to the West Coast.
In the Public Architecture category, the Punangairi Visitor Centre by Sheppard & Rout Architects at Punakaiki won an award for fitting an impressive structure into the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape by incorporating features such as a living, planted ‘green roof’ that sits in harmony with the site.
The Awards this year also acknowledged the large-scale contributions that architects can make to communities, as in awarding Cutting Our Own Track - Westport Master Plan, by Isthmus took top honours in the Planning & Urban Design category. This project was a collective effort between the community and the architects to address Westport’s flood resilience and showed the power of forward-thinking in urban design, inspiring others to embrace a positive and proactive stance against climate change.
“We gave awards to all three projects we visited on the West Coast, in part, because each had a unique way of addressing the challenging climate conditions this part of our country is now facing,” says jury convenor and architect Nathan Edmondston from DCA Architects of Transformation. “As an industry we need to be more proactive than reactive to climate change. Climate impact was one of the key considerations we looked at during the awards this year.”
In the Housing category, the Rarangi Beach House by Arthouse Architects won an award for including sustainability features such as solar power generation and abundant landscaping with a bold, angular form that maintains the natural beauty of the site and which the judges found created “a harmonious transition between nature and architecture.”
Back in Westport, Out on its Own by Micah / Architecture also won a Housing Award and a Resene Colour Award for a home that carefully balances a modern architectural language on a residential streetscape, using a low-slung roofline, offset volumes, slatted balcony, and landscape walls establish a thoughtful dialogue between form and site. Despite its predominantly white exterior, the house uses colour with precision and intent—most notably a deep red that boldly marks the entrance and unifies elements from the canopy battens to handles and hinges.
Edmondston was joined on the jury Simon Harrison (MOAA Architects), Keryn Thompson (KLT Architects) and lay juror Daniela Ramirez (Nelson City Council).
The winners received their awards at an event at The Summer House in Nelson on 16 May.
Full list of 2025 Nelson & Marlborough Architecture Awards winners by category:
Commercial Architecture
• Network Tasman Development by Irving Smith Architects (Richmond)
Housing
• Rarangi Beach House by Arthouse Architects (Rarangi Beach)
• Out on its Own by Micah / Architecture (Westport)
• Tasman Views House by Stufkens + Chambers Architects (Nelson)
Planning & Urban Design
• Cutting Our Own Track. Westport Master Plan by Isthmus (Westport)
Public Architecture
• Punangairi Visitor Centre by Sheppard & Rout Architects (Punakaiki)
