"A closer inspection reveals a lot of architecture in this small building. Indeed, in the absence of irony, excess or that retro-modern stylism that trivialises so much current work, one is convinced by its directness and - to use an already overexposed term - transparency."

Charles Walker Architecture New Zealand, January/February 2001

The brief for this project was to convert an existing city fringe warehouse into offices for a computer software company. A combination of open plan and cellular offices were asked for.

Access to natural light and outlook lay at the core of the initial design investigations; it was decided that the best option on such a compact site was to have only one stair for access.

This restricted the amount of space able to be built, under fire egress and accessibility regulations, to slightly less than two full upper floors.

The solution was to follow a simple courtyard form, allowing the left over area to be used positively as an outdoor room, light well and spatial organiser, providing visual connection both vertically and horizontally.

The design endeavoured to allow the new work to aggregate with the old, to add rather than to subsume.

Project Sheet

• Project Sheet