Muriwai Valley Passive House
This stunning family home on Auckland’s west coast had a point to prove to those who criticise the Passive House performance standard for “requiring square boxes”. Passive House can be anything within reason, says the owner and designer Nick Gaites. “I understand why engineers would design a rectangle, I don’t know why architects do it. I wanted a home that …
Muriwai Valley
Bader Ventura
This project is the first government-owned social housing in Australasia to earn Passive House certification. Its success is down to the vision and determination of some key individuals, chief among them the project manager at Kainga Ora and those who supported her bold bid to radically improve the performance of these apartments. Bader Ventura is well ahead of Kainga Ora’s …
Auckland
Bell House
This Wellington home turns its back on the surrounding ‘70s architecture; instead its twisting form shelters an outside deck and views through treetops towards Pauatahanui Inlet. It’s a big parcel of land but it offers nothing that immediately resembles a building platform. Its dramatic cantilevered living space is not an architectural fancy but a considered solution to the plunging hillside …
Porirua
