Incoming: Brian MacKay-Lyons, Canadian architect extraordinaire

<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">We're delighted to announce, along with our Home of the Year partners Altherm Window Systems, that the international member of our Home of the Year 2012 jury will be Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Born and raised in Arcadia, Nova Scotia, Brian studied in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. He has worked and studied in China, Japan and Italy, returning to Nova Scotia in 1983 to challenge the region's 'brain drain' and make an architectural contribution to the area. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Since then, he's become a leading proponent of regionalist architecture, designing some fantastic houses and, increasingly, important public buildings in Canada and abroad. He has won five Canadian Governor-General's medals for architecture, as well as the American Institute of Architects' Honor Award. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Needless to say, we're really looking forward to his visit and are honoured that he's chosen to come here. He'll be visiting in February, and will give lectures in Auckland on Wednesday February 8 and Wellington on Thursday February 9. Stay tuned for ticket purchase details. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the meantime, here's a short YouTube clip featuring Brian and his work. You can also see more of his work at his firm's website <a href="http://www.mlsarchitects.ca/">here</a>.</span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="264" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/oe-oMeFJJ7k" width="460"></iframe>

Incoming: Brian MacKay-Lyons, Canadian architect extraordinaire

We're delighted to announce, along with our Home of the Year partners Altherm Window Systems, that the international member of our Home of the Year 2012 jury will be Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons. Born and raised in Arcadia, Nova Scotia, Brian studied in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and at the Univ…

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Our upcoming redesign

<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Our December/January issue of the magazine will feature a redesign led by Arch MacDonnell</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> and the team at Inhouse Design. We embarked on this process in October after our former art director, Miranda Dempster, was lured back to New York. During the design development, we made a short web film (heretofore known as the <em>HOME </em>movie) to show you some of the process behind the new design (thanks Dean!). We hope you like the film, and the magazine when it's published on December 5 - as always, we'd be delighted to get your feedback. </span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="264" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JPc8q6Wrj1c" width="460"></iframe>

Our upcoming redesign

Our December/January issue of the magazine will feature a redesign led by Arch MacDonnell and the team at Inhouse Design. We embarked on this process in October after our former art director, Miranda Dempster, was lured back to New York. During the design development, we made a short web film (heret…

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From our archives: A hint of summer

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">Summer's on the way. This cover from our June 1958 issue shows Tibor Donner's magnificent Parnell Baths in Auckland in all their splendour soon after they won the NZ Institute of Architects Gold Medal. The nice thing is they look just as good today. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPF3C7I2ydS05LwEkCmV6E8AXJLf8VN9x877sns50F_QwmuLvTWqLpGwyvDrC3UAn0TW76CqTo_I-gl-Z308CAi8gzkRpFkxP8a6vcf5_JYJqMm06qNg3P6dHzlipVWT4Ztdmrysq6xHOL/s1600/HOMENZ_101220_OCT-OLDISSUES_0396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPF3C7I2ydS05LwEkCmV6E8AXJLf8VN9x877sns50F_QwmuLvTWqLpGwyvDrC3UAn0TW76CqTo_I-gl-Z308CAi8gzkRpFkxP8a6vcf5_JYJqMm06qNg3P6dHzlipVWT4Ztdmrysq6xHOL/s400/HOMENZ_101220_OCT-OLDISSUES_0396.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>

From our archives: A hint of summer

Summer's on the way. This cover from our June 1958 issue shows Tibor Donner's magnificent Parnell Baths in Auckland in all their splendour soon after they won the NZ Institute of Architects Gold Medal. The nice thing is they look just as good today. …

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Outtakes: Concrete house by Simon Twose

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">One of our favourite images from our current issue is this one by Paul McCredie of a house in Kelburn, Wellington, by Simon Twose (the house was originally commissioned when Simon was working at Warren & Mahoney's Wellington office). This view looks from the home's bedroom wing across its courtyard, through the living areas and out to Wellington Harbour. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsjCqqTpL0QrJs1AXVd3opa3BAYH3_W5kHD2_wbj1yhNUHY7QlztrvJ1Bijy43PBnzBdJwonTjiYGxKjiMAb0kinbyqvqMyaI1SAFpI72FCOQG5sC2HcY3khLLkFDkandgYgfMQC32CCI/s1600/Mainey33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrsjCqqTpL0QrJs1AXVd3opa3BAYH3_W5kHD2_wbj1yhNUHY7QlztrvJ1Bijy43PBnzBdJwonTjiYGxKjiMAb0kinbyqvqMyaI1SAFpI72FCOQG5sC2HcY3khLLkFDkandgYgfMQC32CCI/s400/Mainey33.jpg" width="286" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The home's owner, Brett Mainey, is also a builder - and a man who likes a challenge. So he asked Simon to design a house "that would be difficult to build". What resulted was a long, involved and ultimately rewarding collaboration between architect and client. As you can see in Paul's shot below, the house really stands out in its street of villas, its concrete facade demanding a response. </span><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3riIl4xqUdWdgGW3DJ2lmecW1Z9aoW_x4xBlwHXQ-FX9lazIP6Wr1tsZgcP04y0T5yY38cwUblnfdbTijwpxRAceTgRHsJmhmRoVRbGUcsieE_B2gly62-9F3hg2SvYe4flbpcGp8Hcg/s1600/Mainey1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="272" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj3riIl4xqUdWdgGW3DJ2lmecW1Z9aoW_x4xBlwHXQ-FX9lazIP6Wr1tsZgcP04y0T5yY38cwUblnfdbTijwpxRAceTgRHsJmhmRoVRbGUcsieE_B2gly62-9F3hg2SvYe4flbpcGp8Hcg/s400/Mainey1.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9KqpybIOQfjQXBgEAU0w1TOcDh6-gmY9IZc8-R22iF_wBvMilYV9toVLvGXrptu1MX_Z0-nqBIbvr_150x6nH_nQbjTDetWJKtBkYD8QEiIRH7HcJn8oTe4rZzXad6jVb57u7qwHMcjU/s1600/Mainey10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9KqpybIOQfjQXBgEAU0w1TOcDh6-gmY9IZc8-R22iF_wBvMilYV9toVLvGXrptu1MX_Z0-nqBIbvr_150x6nH_nQbjTDetWJKtBkYD8QEiIRH7HcJn8oTe4rZzXad6jVb57u7qwHMcjU/s400/Mainey10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The home's entrance is set a little below the street, a sheltered spot out of the wind that opens onto the navigational fulcrum of the house - left to the bedroom wing, right to the living area. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZ7U8vjUp09tY8FHKI5GIR9ZeQ8fg4H0yghK5j00FW5qLkYPnWhOZT7TrKOeHdMYmuJxgXyPLFH6BaSTyx09b30nvl-jRRmfEaPE1fEqxGd6S42yYuNSDeM2vLIDOUe7hL2q-OXOhH1Ra/s1600/Mainey3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivZ7U8vjUp09tY8FHKI5GIR9ZeQ8fg4H0yghK5j00FW5qLkYPnWhOZT7TrKOeHdMYmuJxgXyPLFH6BaSTyx09b30nvl-jRRmfEaPE1fEqxGd6S42yYuNSDeM2vLIDOUe7hL2q-OXOhH1Ra/s400/Mainey3.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">In the left of this photo (below) you can see the home's central courtyard. Rather than leaving a small amount of space around the perimeter of the property, Simon designed the house so it pushed to the edges of its boundaries and concentrated this space in its courtyard instead. </span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tKulmLLqPCVFIZjiyORiPDl6mKA7R6qMNG-sYDk8iEJIbqHTIWrI-pS3ZlI2A0Ja0sXNTHu9Nszw_Iap16-UrHGlJjjikdDI1ePNmCpXg5_qEFQw6nAMJFPaeQpzdBHqN_JpXCd5uCPb/s1600/Mainey13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-tKulmLLqPCVFIZjiyORiPDl6mKA7R6qMNG-sYDk8iEJIbqHTIWrI-pS3ZlI2A0Ja0sXNTHu9Nszw_Iap16-UrHGlJjjikdDI1ePNmCpXg5_qEFQw6nAMJFPaeQpzdBHqN_JpXCd5uCPb/s400/Mainey13.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgkdaY4tYU5EyT0bgS2Eyueu9evfmhLGiGn1eeN6dbgKcfb-OwOBchXAKyIxzA7DGKwADqPVgq6niqAkGFpj-dmr4vthfKMNAcORbdboSlHB3ScpNZd_mzq2MdW4dMrymtZ7oBfM_bC-L/s1600/Mainey19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicgkdaY4tYU5EyT0bgS2Eyueu9evfmhLGiGn1eeN6dbgKcfb-OwOBchXAKyIxzA7DGKwADqPVgq6niqAkGFpj-dmr4vthfKMNAcORbdboSlHB3ScpNZd_mzq2MdW4dMrymtZ7oBfM_bC-L/s400/Mainey19.jpg" width="265" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgphRbKzzsa_94zqPRQ8epm8Be9-aW4EkOVNgpdd0GbGICmIO8T9UOOTtpxcb-HiASY0783iHrv_5UGY7RqkUAMh1ADDRA7-KplLEFaNCMpixlv7EpqyhrrgFt2q1zk3iiRajDGG9pM1mu/s1600/Mainey29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgphRbKzzsa_94zqPRQ8epm8Be9-aW4EkOVNgpdd0GbGICmIO8T9UOOTtpxcb-HiASY0783iHrv_5UGY7RqkUAMh1ADDRA7-KplLEFaNCMpixlv7EpqyhrrgFt2q1zk3iiRajDGG9pM1mu/s400/Mainey29.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>

Outtakes: Concrete house by Simon Twose

One of our favourite images from our current issue is this one by Paul McCredie of a house in Kelburn, Wellington, by Simon Twose (the house was originally commissioned when Simon was working at Warren & Mahoney's Wellington office). This view looks from the home's bedroom wing across its courtyard,…

Read more »