Twenty-three projects have received awards in the 2020 Southern Architecture Awards, a peer-reviewed awards programme run by Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA), and almost half of the winning properties are located in the Upper Clutha. 

The award-winning projects demonstrate the breadth of work undertaken by architects in the Southern Branch of the NZIA, which covers Otago, including Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes district, and Southland. 

Ten Upper Clutha buildings, from Wanaka to Hāwea and Mount Barker to Cardrona, received awards.

The awards jury convenor, Queenstown architect Stacey Farrell, was joined on the judging panel by architects Eliska Lewis from Wanaka and Cameron Pollock from Auckland, and broadcaster Marcus Lush.

Ruby Ridge House. PHOTO: Supplied

“It’s great to see architecture in our region in such resilient good health,” Stacey said.

The Wanaka Watersports Facility, designed by Alistair Madill Architects, won an award in the commercial category. The jury said the building’s “a richly textured and contoured façade belies the tough functional requirements demanded by a project realised in a sensitive environmental zone. The design’s sensitivity and a generosity of spirit have won over sceptics, and the facility has become a popular community hub.”

Winning a spot in the enduring architecture category (buildings that are at least 25 years old) was the Mills Residence, a 1973 Wanaka house designed by Mason & Wales Architects, which benefits from a clever floor plan that gives most rooms lake and mountain views.

Lake View House. PHOTO: Simon Devitt 

“Half a century later, a site that once was bare has blended with the house – the architecture appears to have grown from the earth,” the jury said. “The house has been much loved by three generations. Its enduring worth is testament to the excellent working relationship of a client and an architect.” 

Upper Clutha homes earned five awards in the housing category.

Scott House in Mt Barker, by Assembly Architects, “seems an unassuming structure backed against a vast hillside, yet the simplicity of the form belies a complex and sophisticated interplay between materials, mass and void,” the jury said. 

Long Grass House. PHOTO: Simon Devitt 

Ruby Ridge House in Wanaka, by Condon Scott Architects, “is an expertly crafted work,” the jury said, “that stands out as something very special. The use of materials and the treatment of detailing is masterful.” 

In Wanaka Crib, designed by Pac Studio, “classic formal and material motifs are combined with subtle variants in the crafting and detailing of traditional materials,” the jury said.

At Lake View House, Lake Hāwea, by Parsonson Architects, “art-loving, energetic clients have inspired an outstanding work of architecture.”

Wanaka House. PHOTO: Simon Devitt 

The jury said Wanaka House, by Three Sixty Architecture, “accommodates the needs of its inhabitants within a sophisticated and refined aesthetic. The house is composed of peaceful, intimate spaces, and nestles gently in the land.” 

Te Pakeke, in Wanaka, by Fearon Hay Architects, took out an interior architecture award for “a winter retreat which has been interpreted in a modern way”.

Lastly, Wanaka properties received two awards in the small project architecture category. 

Abodo Showcase, in Cardrona, by Assembly Architects is “an elegantly conceived and gorgeously crafted building that exhibits a high level of care and attention to detail in all aspects of its construction and detailing”. 

Long Grass House, in Hāwea, by Rafe Maclean Architects, the jury said, “strikes a balance between affordability, sustainability, and liveability. There is a sense of fun in this design which carries through from outside to inside.”

The 2020 Southern Architecture Awards announced the winners on Wednesday (August 12). All award-winning projects will go forward for consideration in the New Zealand Architecture Awards, which will be announced in early November. 

Learn more at the NZIA website here.