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A ribbon-like spiral staircase leads from the open-plan living area to the second level, where the bedrooms are located.

Marble is a beautiful natural material—but one of our industry experts thought it received too much attention in 2022.

"Connection to place is at the heart of this understated house. It evokes the continuous but evolving human settlement in the Bannockburn area in Central Otago. Here, the rusted remains of gold miners’ cottages dot a stony landscape of old mine tailings along the banks of the Kawerau River. ‘It’s an intense, exposed landscape,’ says architect Bergendy Cooke, ‘and the clients wanted a home that complemented these surroundings.’ Bergendy’s response was a house embedded in the terrain, offering protection from the harsh environment while refusing to be ostentatious. The low-lying building that emerged will become even less visible over time through the patina of its materials."

"At Tara Iti, south of the Mangawhai Heads, a former pine plantation is gradually being restored to native habitat on the windy coastal sand dunes. On a site overlooking the world-renowned golf course is the Dune House, designed by architect Julian Guthrie as a retreat for a family with four children. The clients had holidayed in Palm Springs, a city noted for golf, mid-century modern design and a California desert climate—all of which factored into the brief for an expansive yet relaxed house at Tara Iti."

"Mountain peaks, river valleys and glacial lakes sketch the sub-alpine landscape of the southern lakes – an environment revered by Jennifer Arnold and Alan Luckie. ‘It’s the wilderness of it all,’ notes Jennifer. ‘That immense space with its diamond sharp air and the ability to engage with all the elements.’ With a bare site overlooking Lake Wakatipu, they engaged architect Vaughn McQuarrie to design a shelter that would ‘sing with the music of the sun, wind and rain’. They discussed bivvies and huts, thermal efficiency and humble materials, and didn’t need (or necessarily want) the final design to resemble a traditional house."

"The 1970s houses of Whangamatā were the design source for this new beach bach—the simple gables, lean-tos, decks and yards. ‘The clients and I walked the neighbourhood to have a look at the existing character,’ says architect Paul Clarke. ‘They wanted to build sympathetically in the form and size of the building, so we’ve reused elements we know well, but combined them in a new way to put together something different.’"