In landscapes that are a microcosm of Aotearoa — bold mountains, big beaches, bucolic orchards and burgeoning suburbia — these are the residential design superstars from the 2025 Best Awards.
In association with the Best Awards.
OPENFIELD HOUSE – Keshaw McArthur
Within the expansiveness of the Crown Range, this family home exists as an object of geometry that rejects the distinction between interior and exterior spaces.
A distilled concept, developed in collaboration with London-based Matheson Whiteley, the architecture is limited to the necessary. It’s an unfussy, honest response sympathetic to the powerful energy of the land.
The square plan and corrugated roof of the home reference historical structures of the region (think agricultural sheds and miners’ huts) with a rationalised grid to facilitate the opening and closing of interior spaces around the needs of the occupants.
Among the collection of interchangeable zones, heavy concrete volumes provide groundedness: an open fireplace anchors the building’s centre, and concealed sliding joinery commits the thresholds to an openness that invites the landscape inwards.
A considered approach to materiality and construction is based on the abstract idea that, were the lightweight elements ever to come down, what remains would be a ruin of stone objects rising from the ground.
The design strategy retains this raw energy across the site, crafting the home as a place of respite for a family with an active lifestyle, an offering akin to lying under a tree for the afternoon. Alongside essential utility, critical emphasis is placed on an authentic material palette: natural stone and timber establish the sense that this building has always existed as a permanent fixture of the landscape.
Photography Sam Hartnett, Biddi Rowley
S.K.I. HOUSE – Roberts Gray Architects
Composed of a series of solid geometric volumes and lightweight screens, this house negotiates its suburban setting to create
a sanctuary with carefully curated views to the alpine landscape.
This site, within walking distance of Wānaka’s centre, has been occupied by the client for more than two decades. The owner sought a long-term dwelling that would be an adaptable retreat for the next generation to enjoy into the future amid the ongoing evolution of the town.
The street-facing façade is deliberately abstract, selectively revealing hints of what lies beyond. Upon entering, the house presents as both formal and free-flowing. This appeal to different modes of inhabitation is seasonal. In winter, a low-lit, dark-clad mudroom transitions to a light-filled interior with framed views of the mountains. In summer, a casual meander over stone steps links a sequence of gardens to the spacious central courtyard at the heart of the home.
A reduced palette of natural materials creates continuity between inside and out. The module of these materials informs everything — from the characterful detailing to the proportion and openings of each room. This relationship from part to whole is evidence of strong collaboration across the project team. The looser landscaping response offsets the exacting architecture with fractured edges to the stone paving and planting that varies in height and density throughout the seasons.
Photography Sam Hartnett, Biddi Rowley
ORCHARD HOUSE – Fearon Hay Architects
Set in the grounds of a mature chestnut orchard, this Tāhuna/Queenstown home is a place of reconnection and retreat. The brief required a place where the owners’ adult children would love to return, a design that combined flexibility with longevity. A deep connection to the land guided every decision.
Strict planning rules shaped the architectural approach. A requirement for a 22-degree roof pitch inspired the bold, mono-pitched forms, which are reminiscent of local agricultural sheds.
Simple, sculpted volumes are arranged around a central courtyard and aligned to light, views and privacy, creating a home that supports both communal gatherings and independence.
Durable materials that reflect the local rural vernacular (such as zinc, iron and Otago schist) anchor the home to its setting. Inside, natural oak, plaster and limestone lend softness and warmth. Environmental responsiveness was central: designed to lean into passive-house standards, cross-ventilation ensures year-round comfort, while minimal earthworks preserved the orchard’s ecology.
More than a house, this dwelling is a model of regenerative design. It works with the land, rooted in place, rich in story, and built to endure.
It reflects an architecture of care: for family, for creativity, and for the natural form of the land.
Photography David Straight
BUNKER HOUSE – Chris Tate Architecture
When art and engineering collide, the result can be a building that both delights and unsettles all who encounter it. In this case, the structure stands at a remarkable location, its design responding to and reflecting the unique characteristics of the site.
The project brief called for an iconic residence where physics and sculpture could merge in unexpected ways. This ambition is manifested in the design, where a narrow, 300mm-wide point becomes the central pivot for a dwelling that seems to defy gravity, creating a sense of weightlessness amid its surroundings.
The building draws inspiration from Piha’s fierce, untamed landscape and the coastal fortifications that once dotted Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland’s coastline during World War II, lending the house its name. The bunker slot also serves a crucial purpose:
it shields the house from brutal natural elements as well as the bustling summer carpark below, offering a sense of protection and privacy while external distractions remain unseen. Inside, the slot frames the raw beauty of crashing surf, sand dunes and sky.
The materials used in the construction are deliberately dark and moody, evoking the history and mystique that have long surrounded this west coast village. The atmosphere of the house is as much about the materials’ tactile qualities as it is about the story the site tells — an interplay of place, nature and the engineering marvel that stands upon it.
Photography Simon Devitt
POCKET HOUSES – Dorrington Atcheson Architects
These joyful little houses in Ōtāhuhu, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland address a fundamental challenge in our built landscape: how to make quality design accessible to more New Zealanders. Born from a desire to balance considered architecture with reasonable cost, these compact two-bedroom homes represent a fresh approach to democratising design.
The stand-alone pair are set diagonally across from each other on a 290sqm pocket of land. With a floor area of 70sqm each, over two storeys, the homes embody key ideas of reduction and simplification. Space is used efficiently, but without compromise. Each house has an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area with sliders on two sides, encouraging light and fresh air, and blurring the line between inside and out. The kitchen is full-height, providing plenty of storage and there’s a daybed with more storage (that can serve as a guest bed if needed), a laundry cupboard and stairs to the second floor.
Upstairs the landing doubles as an office with a built-in desk, plus there are two bedrooms with wardrobes, and a bathroom. No space is wasted; the house feels snug, without seeming mean or tight.
Clad in bright orange roofing tiles to ensure minimal external upkeep, the vivid shade has a playfulness which continues inside with the downstairs walls lined in plywood. Kitchen cabinetry finished in melamine (one in green, the other in orange) is another fun aspect. At ground level there are polished-concrete floors; upstairs the flooring is 100% NZ wool carpet, with tiles in the bathroom.
The duo make big use of a small pocket of land. Set in a checkerboard pattern, privacy is considered and, although they share a driveway, each has a designated parking area and a private courtyard to enjoy.
In all they are small but functional, reasonably priced to build and right-sized for stage of life.
Photography Simon Wilson