Affordable apartments and commercial architecture recognised at Auckland’s premiere annual awards

Warren and Mahoney received three awards at the gala across Commercial, Housing - Multi Unit and Colour categories.

“The awards jury was impressed by the ways in which architectural thinking is driving innovation”, says Dave Strachan, convenor of an Awards jury that included fellow Auckland architects Natasha Markham and Evelyn McNamara, Wellington architect Ewan Brown, and Simon Wilson, senior writer for The New Zealand Herald.

“The awards hold a mirror up to Auckland’s significant issues. They show how to house people well in greater numbers, how to deal with our built heritage appropriately and how to provide focal points for communities,” Strachan said.

“Above all, the awards show how well-crafted environments can bring some joy into people’s lives.”

Warren and Mahoney’s record of award-winning projects at Stonefields in east Auckland has continued with medium-cost Bellus Apartments that “showcase visual variety in their external form, with an appealing juxtaposition of materials, colour and form, and some lovely touches”. Todd Property's Altera Apartments and Ilico Apartments also both received NZIA Auckland Architecture awards in 2016.

“Internally, the apartments have kitchen islands oriented to the view, generous balconies and extensive glazing, all of which conjure a welcome sense of expansiveness. Vertical batten screens on many of the apartments break up the views, helping with the sense of security on the balconies and adding a dramatic note to the near-and-far relationship in the views. These medium-cost homes are respectful of the people who live in them”, says the NZIA Auckland Architecture jury.

In Wynyard Quarter, 12 Madden Street, designed by Warren and Mahoney, hosts an innovative work-organisational model within a form that “playfully evokes saw-toothed factory roofs of old, and some beautiful patterning for the discerning eye to discover”.

“12 Madden St has an anchor tenant known as Grid AKL – a council-supported initiative designed to encourage and facilitate tech-sector innovation – and the complex, multi-faceted work spaces of the building are fit for purpose for that tenant in so many ways. But it was designed without a tenant in mind, with the more general purpose of being a star contributor to the urban landscape of the still-new Wynyard Quarter, a showcase of how the industrial and sea-based heritage of the precinct could be given new life in a contemporary context. Warren and Mahoney has achieved those goals with enormous panache. This building is so good to look at. And inside, the spatial design and interior fitout is stimulating and flexible in ways that speak constantly of the possibilities of the creative work being done there. A truly splendid, highly original office building.”

Managing Director John Coop said, “We are honoured to accept these awards for and on behalf of our clients. This local recognition in both multi-residential and commercial architecture reflects our strong commitment to delivering exceptional places and spaces for both our clients and the communities we live and work in. Congratulations to our clients Todd Property and Precinct Properties and the entire project team.”