2018 New Zealand Architecture Awards Winner
Heke Street House (1988)
The Heke Street House is one of the best New Zealand urban houses of the last 30 years, and its intent is even more evident now as it was at the time of construction. David Mitchell and Julie Stout designed the house, which fully occupies a small Ponsonby lot, when they were sailors in the Pacific, and the design seems to float on this conceptual current. The building is delicate – Japanese architecture appealed to its authors – but requires its inhabitants to be hardier: the design does not defer unduly to the elements. Nature is embraced: the front terrace seems to reach the treeline; the rear is given over to a pond. As sufficient as a yacht, and as magical as a spell, the Heke Street House is a compelling vision for Auckland life.
