| 69 T T Kim Bowden Context a key factor in design The use of timber, schist and steel mirror the region’s alpine aesthetic. JCY Architects ARCHITECTURE After a quiet few years, commercial development in Queenstown is stirring again – and JCY Architects director Richard Chambers says his team is ready for it. With more than a decade and a half of work across the Southern Lakes, the Auckland-founded practice’s Queenstown studio has built a reputation for projects that balance local character, affordability and design-led density. “Traditionally, JCY has been largely commercial,” Richard says. “Prior to Covid, we were probably 70% commercial, 30% residential. Since Covid, commercial’s been really depressed and slowly coming back. We’re seeing some green shoots now, but it’s been more like 70% residential and 30% commercial for the past few years.” That residential focus has brought success, and a recent apartment renovation completed with builder Newell Hodson of BTP Construction earned a Master Builders House of the Year Award. The project was recognised by a judging panel for its clever use of timber, schist and steel to mirror the region’s alpine aesthetic. Queenstown’s housing market is squeezed, particularly at the lower end, where hospitality workers and young families are competing with holiday-home renters. The local council is under pressure to bring more affordable housing on to the market, and tweaks to the district plan aim to make that possible. With commercial activity returning, JCY Architects is stepping in, drawing on its high-density experience from projects such as Hobsonville Point in Auckland, where it delivered 42 terraced homes in a single year, to meet the town’s evolving needs. “We’re starting to see more mixed-use projects – multiple residential units, with offices and retail components,” Richard says. “You need the right design skills to execute those high- to medium-density communities, otherwise it just doesn’t work. The design has to be simple enough that it can be built in an affordable manner.” JCY’s Queenstown portfolio includes the Sudima Hotel, a five-storey office and retail complex at Five Mile, and most recently the conversion of a backpackers to new staff accommodation for NZSki, to double as backpacker housing in summer. The diversity of its work mirrors Queenstown’s unique blend of hospitality, commercial, and residential needs, as well as the district’s shift towards higher density. Across every project, Richard emphasises design decisions are grounded in a careful response to local context and tradition – Queenstown’s downtown, he says, had its beginnings as a “tent town” housing gold miners, for example. “Queenstown traditionally has not seen the development of many big buildings. So, when you do a larger-scaled building, you somehow have to incorporate elements and materiality of those buildings that make them feel like they’re human scaled.” When it comes to material choices, Richard says Queenstown has its own particular look: timber, raw steel, alpine tray, Oamaru stone, and schist all provide a “tactile” quality and help the buildings feel “in sync” with their setting. Sustainability and affordability remain equally non-negotiable. “They don’t always go hand in hand, but we like to think they can,” Richard says. Part of the company’s ethos is working with a builder right from the outset, setting the budget early and finding simpler solutions. JCY’s Queenstown office remains compact, with Richard and one full-time designer working alongside a structural engineer, while the team draws on “the engine room” of Auckland when workloads spike. Established in 2012, the Southern Lakes studio grew quickly. “After 18 months, there was so much work coming through the door that it became a key part of what we do,” Richard says. AMBIENCE SYSTEMS Lighting Design & Supply ambiencesystems.co.nz ginny@ambiencesystems.co.nz www.ambiencelightingsystems.com PH 0276950276 belgotex.co.nz
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