Eleven architectural projects across the Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui regions have been deemed the very best in Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects’ Regional Awards this year.

Ngā Huia, School of Veterinary Science by CCM Architects and Labworks Architecture was a double winner, receiving awards in both the Education and Interior Architecture categories. The jury commended the project for engaging local iwi early in the co-design process and for thoughtfully incorporating natural references, including the huia bird, last recorded in the nearby Tararua Ranges.

Also recognised was Te Whare Toroa by Warren and Mahoney and Design Inc Adelaide in association, the new aircraft hangar and operational facility for the Royal New Zealand Air Force No. 5 Squadron’s P-8 Poseidon aircraft at RNZAF Base Ohakea. A winner in the Public Architecture category, the project includes two hangar bays and buildings to support the squadron’s aircraft, personnel and operations.

This marks at least the second architecture award for facilities at RNZAF Base Ohakea, after the Ohakea Air Movements Terminal received a Western Regional Award in the Commercial Architecture category in 2015.

“The awarded projects in 2026 illustrate care,” says jury convenor and architect Craig Dalgleish of Dalgleish Architects. “These projects are very well considered, and reflect the particularities of their users, their context both immediate and general, exhibiting adaptation and care towards place and space making. The jury and I noticed a generosity in the works. We are very grateful to the people who gave us access to things we could not otherwise have seen.”

Dalgleish was joined on the jury by Jono Murdoch (Ailtire Architects), Renee Woods (Renee Woods Architect) and lay juror Sandra Henderson (Sandra Henderson Photography).

The winners received their awards at an event at the New Plymouth Club on 29 May.

Full list of 2026 Western Regional Architecture Awards winners by category:

Commercial Architecture

• Eagars Funerals by Void (New Plymouth)*

• Toitū House by Gibbons Architects (New Plymouth)*

Education

• Ngā Huia, School of Veterinary Science by CCM Architects and Labworks Architecture (Palmerston North)

Housing

• Outlook House by Gibbons Architects (New Plymouth)

• Rammed Earth House by Boon (Ōkato)

• Waitī House by Crosson Architects (Kaitake)

Housing – Alterations and Additions

• Rongopai Reno by First Light Studio (Palmerston North)

Interior Architecture

• Ngā Huia, School of Veterinary Science by CCM Architects and Labworks Architecture (Palmerston North)

Public Architecture

• Stadium Taranaki East Stand by Boon and GHD (New Plymouth)

• Te Whare Toroa by Warren and Mahoney and Design Inc Adelaide in association (RNZAF Base Ohakea)

Small Project Architecture

• Studio and Landscaping by Felicity Wallace architects (Marton)*

Note: * denotes Resene Colour Award winner.