Is “Frugality” the Design Term Modern Architects Are Missing?
The New Zealand housing industry is navigating one of its most challenging periods in decades. High material costs, elevated interest rates, and reduced government investment have slowed projects across the country. Many architectural practices are competing harder for fewer commissions, and residential work is increasingly shaped by developer-led efficiencies rather than long-term thinking. In moments […]
Designing for Thermal Performance: Beyond Compliance
Heating and new building regulations are a hot topic in today’s market. But good design naturally meets, and often exceeds, those standards without needing to retrofit solutions or add costly upgrades later. At HB Architecture, we take a holistic approach, integrating environmental factors and time-tested principles to create homes that don’t just comply but truly […]
Has the Computer Changed How We Imagine?
I still remember my first day working in an architecture studio. I was handed a blank sheet of paper. No template. No brief. Just space to think, to draw, to begin. That moment marked the true start of architecture for me. Even now, more than 50 years later, I remember how it felt. Confronting, yes, […]
Waitangi: Designed For Legacy
Every time I return to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, I’m reminded that buildings have their own kind of life. The architecture here was designed to belong to the land, to the stories it holds, and to the people who come to experience it. Over time, the land has completed the work. Bush has grown up […]
Why We Still Sketch By Hand
There’s something irreplaceable about sketching by hand. Recently, I shared a small hand-drawn “book” of sketches with a client, rough ideas that evolved with the project. Their response reminded me of a quote from Juhani Pallasmaa in The Thinking Hand: “The pencil in the architect’s hand is a bridge between the imagining mind and the […]