NZIA Wellington Architecture Award.

Jury citation: “H House is a carefully resolved home that demonstrates a strong understanding of site, climate, and everyday living. Simple forms and restrained materials create a calm and sheltered retreat that balances rural openness with suburban privacy through a well-scaled courtyard plan. Attention to detail is evident throughout, from the approach to the house to the framing of views, the control of natural light, and the placement of art within the interior. Subtle changes in volume help define public and private spaces while responding to the strong Wairarapa sun. Elegant and highly coherent, the home achieves a quiet sense of luxury through thoughtful design and careful detailing.”

The owners sought a highly durable, thermally efficient family home that would sit quietly within its semi-rural context while providing generous internal volumes, strong connections to landscape, and long-term performance resilience.  The site is part of a wider family neighbourhood, with close relatives — including grandchildren — living in adjacent houses, reinforcing the intergenerational nature of the property and its role in supporting extended family living.

The owners have an extensive collection of art and sculpture alongside a passion for landscape. The art, sculpture, house and garden merge and reach outwards towards neighbours and a section of reserve land with large established trees, creating an extended landscape woven together with view shafts, shadow, light and points of intrigue.

Photographer - Gerald Parsonson