Business South March 2021

| 89 Dwelling Architectural Design ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Bringing an holistic approach to design T T Russell Fredric With a total floor space of 130 square metres, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house has abundant glazing, allowing for excellent views over Otago Harbour. Photos: Sean Waller Photography D espite the challenges of 2020, it was a stellar year for multi award-winning Dunedin firm Dwelling Architectural Design. With several Architectural Design New Zealand (ADNZ) awards already to its credit, the company, owned and run by Cameron Grindlay, added two more awards to its trophy chest. After 15 years in the industry, Cameron started the business in 2012 with a desire to take on a new challenge and to be more involved with clients in the whole design process, from 3D conceptual stage, through to contract administration. While Cameron’s architectural skill has been well recognised in the industry, he is also strongly influenced by a pragmatic approach to design, sustainability and a concern about the long-term trend of the increasing size of homes. “Architecture often gets too caught up with the aesthetics, which are important, but sometimes we sacrifice things on the altar of aesthetics to the detriment of the fabric and quality of the building,” Cameron says. The aesthetics of a building need to be in tandem with good quality, warm houses that are efficient, while minimising wastage, with materials being be selected with conscious - ness of their origin and availability. This holistic approach was epitomised in one of Cameron’s 2020 designs which won the ADNZ Otago/Southland Commended Award in the Residential Interiors Category for a three-story house built in Ravensbourne on a footprint of just 57 square metres. With a total floor space of 130 square me - tres, the two-bedroom, two-bathroom house has abundant glazing, allowing for excellent views over Otago Harbour. In line with Cameron’s philosophy, it fea - tures 240mm thick walls and triple glazing for great thermal performance. In the interior, warm-toned quality ply wood - which nicely complements the polished concrete floors - replaces plaster board and a staircase with a glass balustrade cleverly elimi - nates a potential obstruction to outside views. “The idea was to give a bigger sense of space than what it actually is.” An exponentially different project, an 800 square metre Visual and Performing Arts Cen - tre, Te Waka Huia, built for St Hilda’s Collegiate School, Dunedin, won the 2020 ADNZ Resene Commercial/Industrial Architectural Design Award. Located in a residential area, Te Waka Huia is a hub for dance, drama, live perfor - mance, photography and visual art. In designing the centre, consideration need - ed to be given to both the school’s longer term needs as well as the potential noise issues and privacy for surrounding neighbours. From the street, its striking exterior includes a juxtaposition of horizontal and vertical and warm and cool elements while the opposite wall on the school grounds includes a large cross as a design element, paying homage to school’s Christian heritage. Cladding and roofing of white, vertical ribbed coloured steel has a practical element; it keeps the building cool in the summer, reducing the cost of air conditioning. Along with ADNZ judges praise, Cameron has had great feedback from the school’s staff. “They are finding it a really calming, tranquil space to be in. The Visual and Performing Arts Centre, Te Waka Huia, built for St Hilda’s Collegiate School Dunedin, won the 2020 ADNZ Resene Commercial/Industrial Architectural Design Award. “Those are the sorts of things that are not necessarily in the [design] brief, but you want to try and achieve.” “To have won the national award in the commercial category, I was over the moon.” sustainability new homes additions commercial 3D concepts project management resource consents building consents Cameron Grindlay (m) 0220 637 454 (e) dwelling.arcdesign@gmail.com