100 | ARCHITECTURE Arete Architects Wright & Gray Architects Seeking holistic design The Village Queenstown. Photo: Simon Devitt T T Aimee Wilson ‘Bach’ project up for award T T Aimee Wilson Arete, French for the coming together of two planes, is the cornerstone ethos for Arete Architects, says Sam Brown, who co-owns the practice with Jonny Fletcher. New Zealand has been the perfect inspiration for the young practice seeking to blend the built and natural environments. The local business is gaining international recognition after proving itself amongst some of the leaders in architecture, winning a German Design Council Iconic Award as well as being shortlisted for the Dezeen Award in 2024. Local successes have come as well, with Arête winning NZIA awards in the Southern and Wellington branches over the last few years.A recent success has been their Hill House, an impressive, cascading family home in Island Bay, Wellington, named a finalist for Home magazine’s City Home of the Year 2026. Arete focuses on good, conscientious design, where aesthetic outcomes do not come at a cost to the performance and health of the built outcome. Arete Architects is Homestar accredited, which involves thinking about the design and building in a holistic sense, with a focus on thermal performance, embodied carbon, waste minimisation and water usage, to name a few factors. John Wright and Travis Gray have built an enduring architectural practice in Wellington that has continued to win awards and impress judges for over 25 years. Their team at Wright & Gray has been involved with some major projects in the sport, healthcare and education sectors, as well as designing bespoke residential homes across New Zealand and in some interesting locations. The ‘Wee Gannet’ in the Marlborough Sounds has been a project of John’s since he was a 23-year-old graduate, and now finally complete it has been shortlisted in the Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Nelson/Marlborough Awards 2026. First owned by a “courageous” 80-year-old doctor from Wellington, the original bach was built in 1989. Ownership passed to the extended family, who commissioned a new large deck and addition to the living space in 2015. A growing family meant there was a need for more bedroom space, so the original South Island bach has now become two on the sloping bush section. “It is a delight to work with the same family over the span of four decades, and with a new generation of talented graduates, who bring fresh ideas and energy to this evolving story,” John says. The new addition is located up-slope and a little away from the original cottage, affording some privacy and keeping the scale of each building modest. The mono pitch roof allows high windows to capture sun from the north side. Bunk beds are arranged lengthways so that each has both a view of the bay and its own window for sun and ventilation. A good-sized deck gives a flat, sheltered place to sit for morning coffee in the sun. The new bach is supported delicately by slender steel posts and bearers, with the whole outside inished in a uniform dark tone to recede against the bush. The interior has been lined in plywood, with bespoke bunks, storage and a long window-seat, also of melamine-faced plywood. John says they went through many hoops to get resource consent, including for the installation of a new wastewater system. Sam and Jonny are experienced in designing homes and commercial buildings from across the spectrum, including a range of modular houses to make great architecture more accessible. Arete is about architecture for everyone – whether it be a $500,000 or a $10 million home, they say. “We have a very connected and personal approach to our projects, always looking for ways to better the built environment.” Jonny lives in Wellington, where the business started and still operates, but recently Sam and his family moved to Dunedin, where he grew up, giving him the chance to grow the business in the south. He never thought he would return to Dunedin after spending 18 years in Wellington, but admits it has a certain energy about it that as a child he never fully appreciated. New opportunities have arisen in the city, with Sam taking up a lecturing role teaching first year architecture students at Otago Polytechnic. One of the recent projects Sam has been designing in Dunedin is the renovation of the old Croque-O-Dile cafe inside the Dunedin Botanical Gardens. The contract was rather serendipitous, as the new owners had no idea that Sam had grown up nearby in North East Valley. The steep and potentially unstable site in a very remote location also meant it was a challenging build, including having to barge and occasionally helicopter in materials, “and that informs the design” of the new building, says John.. Naturally, the bach had a nautical theme – not just because of the location, but because one of the family members is an off-shore sailor. Wright & Gray Architects is big enough to offer clients a breadth of experience and depth of resources, but small enough that the service is always personal. And their work never goes unnoticed. In 2024, the business won an award from the NZIA Western Architectural Awards for its Mabel Central multi-unit housing development in Horowhenua. The team also designed The New Zealand Campus of Innovation in Upper Hutt that was opened by the Prime Minister in 2023. Wright & Gray will continue to set the standard in New Zealand architecture, as John and Travis look forward to sharing their knowledge with the next generation of designers. The bach is supported delicately by slender steel posts and bearers. Crafted Concrete Products viblock.co.nz www.eckford.co.nz 1 Auckland Street, Blenheim . Phone: 03 578 3002 Proud to work alongside Wright & Gray Architects STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: Steel Fabrication · House Beams Galvanised Brick Lintels · Winery Catwalks and Platforms
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