2013 NZIA Gold Medal
2014-2016 President NZIA
2010-2019 Member Auckland City Urban Design Panel
2003 Distinguished Alumni University of Auckland
2004 Founding Principal, Cheshire Architects Ltd.
2003-2008 Adjunct Professor of Architecture, University of Auckland
1999-2003 Managing Director JASMAX Ltd., Auckland
1989-1999 Founding Director JASMAX Ltd., Auckland
Cheshire engages in a huge breadth of types and scales, operating across fields of luxury and austerity, newness and age, roughness and refinement. Leading a holistic design process that coheres all disciplines, from development strategy and architecture to furniture and product design, Nat moves daily from apron buttons to web design to light fittings to riverside cabins to basement cocktail dens to luxury retreats to the creation and transformation of huge chunks of the city.
Amongst this work, Nat has built much of Britomart – an organic development covering nine inner-city blocks surrounding The Hotel Britomart, and created and continually evolved the four-hectare City Works Depot. Nat’s work has been awarded the NZIA Sir Miles Warren Commercial Architecture award, 2020 Best Award purple pin as well as twenty-four Best Award gold pins in nine years, is twice the winner of Metro’s designer of the year, HOME’s home of the year and twice its product of the year. His work is regularly published in global editions like Monocle, Wallpaper, Dezeen, Resident and Dwell. He seeks the extraordinary rather than the perfect in the pursuit of a new architecture and a new city.
DJ leads a large team in the studio. He is a critical collaborator in almost every hospitality project it undertakes. DJ shapes everything – from the philosophical ideals and atmospheres underpinning a project, to the realisation of those ideals in nuts, bolts, grease traps and bespoke furniture. He is as capable a project and construction manager as he is a water colourist. DJ heads the studio’s relationship with its Chinese clients.
Project Lead:
The Hotel Britomart, The Libraries, The Hotel Britomart Restaurant, Kiwi Tavern Refurbishment, Heritage Offices Britomart, 46 Parnell, Apartment for a Writer, Britomart Country Club, Cafe Hanoi, Library House, Milse, MOAM, The Store, Ortolana, XuXu, Ponsonby restaurant
Project Collaboration:
Mr Morris, Mandarin, Mangawhai House, Miss Clawdy
Ascinda has gained more than fifteen years’ experience in the London offices of both local and multinational studios before a return to home soil saw her join the Cheshire studio in 2018. Ascinda has led large teams in the design and realisation of major, beautifully refined projects that work to bolster their local urban fabric, and larger civic scale masterplanning projects which seek to reimagine how areas of a city might be used. At the centre of all her projects resides the highest of expectations for the experience of the people and communities who will use the buildings and spaces around them. Ascinda is a powerful leader within the studio who is as comfortable wielding a pencil across a blank page and she is wrestling with the rigours and complexities of realising a built project.
Project Lead:
Scapegrace Distillery, Kauri Cliffs Beach Pavilion, Kauri Cliffs Lodge Bar, Luxury Boatshed, Private houses, Bancorp Britomart offices, Buckland Masonic heritage façade restoration, Floral Court, London (KPF), Lucan Place, London (KPF)
Project Collaboration:
Stanbeth Excelsior Britomart, Catalina Bay Stage 3, Te Arai Lodge, Earls Court Village Masterplan, London (KPF & Farrells), Bulgari Hotel, London (Squire + Partners & ACPVP), One Tower Bridge, London (Squire + Partners & Conran + Partners)
Calum brings a resolute working process to bear on architecture. Having worked in media design in London, Calum returned to New Zealand in 2007 to expand his skills within the field of architecture. In that time Calum has worked for Cheshire and run his own architecture practice. He now works exclusively for the Cheshire Studio. Calum specialises in a highly focused architecture leading the complex detailing of several large-scale city developments, and the intricacies of complex geometries such as the asymmetrical ellipse with entasis that defines the tower of the Hilltop House.
Project Lead:
Smith House
Project Collaboration:
Stanbeth & Excelsior, Q Theatre, Gabriel House (ML), Hilltop house & Gymnasium (ML), Hilltop Observatory (ML), SKHY2, Hotel Britomart, Church at Massey
In Ellie’s London work, projects of huge adaptive re-use sit alongside new buildings of large-format commercial nature. In Auckland, Ellie confidently leads the studio’s largest teams in projects of similar scale, pursuing change in the city through sites of mixed, transformative use. Ellie is that rare person in architecture whose design work is insightful and lyrical, and whose project delivery experience and capacity for management are equally solid. Her broad strengths shape and amplify the studio’s design intent throughout architecture’s complex design, documentation and implementation phases.
Project Lead:
Private residence in Ōtepoti, Auckland Hebrew Congregation, SKHY, 18 Sale St, Morningside, Stanbeth Excelsior Britomart, Buckland Masonic
Emily refuses to accept disciplinary or typological boundaries within design. She leads a team of designers that push the studio’s work beyond building and into interior, graphic, product, web, furniture, lighting, and textile design. With them, she pursues totally immersive experiences, through a fierce commitment to the bespoke - from master plan to apron button.
Project Lead:
Arrowtown Houses, Hotel Britomart Restaurant Private Dining, Faradays, The Libraries, The Hotel Britomart Interiors, Northern Club Extension, Ford Loft Two Residence, Northern Club Bistro, Pilkington’s Restaurant and Bar, Tantalus Winery Waiheke, Alibi Brewery Waiheke, The Esplanade, No.7 Balmac, The Tooth Company, Dry & Tea (Newmarket, City Works Depot, Britomart), City Works Depot, Britomart, Freemans bay and Queenstown Residences, Whites & Co. Britomart, Food Truck Garage
Project Collaboration:
Upper Tukurua House, Private Residence in Herne Bay, Riddell Road House, Kings Plant Barn Concept Store, Mr Morris, Fielding House Interiors, SKHY Marketing and Interiors, Oaken, Saan, Mandarin, Ortolana, Milse, The Store, Miss Clawdy, Mi Piaci Melbourne, XuXu
Object:
The Hotel Restaurant Private Dining Chandelier, The Hotel Restaurant Private Dining Pendant, Fulcrum Table Lamp, Torchon Pendant, Foundry Floor Light, Parison Pendant, Parison Table Light, Northern Club Bistro Pendant
Fraser has run his own very successful practice, producing inventive and beautiful residential and hospitality work under the banner of Fraser Horton Design. He joined the Cheshire studio in support of its ambitions for New Zealand and global architecture. Fraser’s skills are broad reaching; from the holistic leadership of highly detailed buildings, to key management contributions in the studio itself, to the leadership of the studio’s digital modelling, virtual reality, image creation and art direction efforts. Fraser’s appetite is for crafting beautiful architecture that advances and expands our culture. This is evident in everything he does.
Project Lead:
Tarawera House, Dalefield House, Vermont Street House, Kauaroa Bay Lodge
Project Collaboration:
Kings Plant Barn Stonefields Concept Store, Te Arai North Villas & Clubhouse, Auckland Hebrew Congregation
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George is obsessed with detail, richness and a concentrated, crisply resolved architecture. He applies those obsessions broadly: from the layered improvisations of restaurants to large-format inner city transformations and intensely considered, bespoke residences. For George, this means fighting just as hard for custom-made door handles as for the efficiencies and potentials of multi-storey planning. George has a lead role in the studio’s work, running several projects at once in support of the continually evolving whole.
Project Lead:
Waiheke House, Faradays, Riddell Road House, Ponsonby Villa, Riddell Road House, Miss Clawdy, Mi Piaci, Quay Altrans Britomart, Barrington Sofrana Britomart, City Works Depot Spiral Stair, Waiheke House, Ford Lofts, The Northern Club, Dadelszen Parnell, Parnell Loft, Hinemoa Street House.
Kieren draws on broad experience, from master-planning huge projects in China to his more recent London based commercial work and the construction of small rural houses. Kieren brings this experience to bear on architecture in a manner that is as technically intelligent and procedurally robust as it is ideologically committed. He enjoys equally the mud and dust of the construction site and the challenge and politics of design management. He is committed to the pursuit of architectural clarity, cohesion and material honesty, which he believes is attainable irrespective of a project’s constraints. These attributes help Kieren play a key role in leading projects with a global cast of clients and consultants. It also means that Kieren treats documentation as a design project in its own right, driving the studio’s program of continual documentation critique and refinement. Kieren established the studio’s Wellington office.
Project Lead:
Upper Tukurua House, Arrowtown Houses, The Tarn, Lake Hawea House, Vineyard Villa at The Landing, Clifftop House II, Clifftop Gym
Project Collaboration:
Tara Iti Clubhouse, Vermont Street House
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Lucy’s beautiful and materially intelligent architectural graduate work brought her to the studio’s attention seven years ago. Having returned from her four year post-graduate heritage studies in Rome, Lucy has forged a key role in the studio. She exploits a sensitivity of heritage conservation, seeking the seamless integration of architecture and its interior occupation. Lucy’s work covers a broad spectrum, from commercial space planning and heritage based refurbishment to the sourcing of hand-made lamps. Lucy is a driving force in the studio’s commitment to extraordinary heritage projects and interventions.
Project Lead:
Kiwi Tavern Refurbishment, Maritime Refurbishment
Project Collaboration:
Chief Post Office Base Building Heritage Upgrade Works, Antarctica - Ross Sea Heritage Restoration, The Hanger, Dry & Tea Britomart, Queenstown and Freemans Bay residences, Tantalus Winery Waiheke, VMob Britomart, Maritime Building extension, HLC office, Catalina Bay, Extensive adaptive reuse of historic naval air force hangers and workshops at Catalina Bay
Mark is an architect of fifteen years’ experience in Auckland, London and New York. His prior projects range from highly crafted bespoke homes to new campus developments for the University of Auckland and several British universities. Mark artfully balances strong, clear design ambitions with a calm, focused project management style. He is as a consequence a highly effective leader of large teams and critical projects, forging strong architecture from complex briefs and stakeholder teams.
Project Lead:
Private residence in Herne Bay, Kings Plant Barn Stonefields Concept Store, Tara Iti enlargements / Te Arai accommodation and enlargements
Project Collaboration:
Britomart Portal, Beazley House, Nolan House
Pam is a supremely calm, confident and focused maker of architecture, designing comprehensive and carefully thought-out projects of integrity and efficiency. She works across a breadth of scales and a depth of project stages and methodologies, pursuing a strong, humane architecture. Pam’s great ability to organise the demands of complex briefs into strong architecture is matched by an outstanding ability to establish and manage the process of tendering and contract administration.
Project Lead:
Chief Post Office Base Building Heritage Upgrade Works, St Heliers Church, SKHY Apartments Stage 2, Wilson Home Respite & Rehabilitation Centre, Mission Bay housing, Wairakei Golf and Sanctuary, Springfield Road Residence additions & alterations, Clarke Foundation Library, Tamaki Teacher Housing, Childfund Auckland Office fitout.
Project Collaboration:
Mission Bay masterplan & streetscape, Te Arai private accommodation, Northern Club, Hannam Draper Penthouse, Auckland Islands Research Station, Kauaroa Bay, Redhills Green Masterplanning.
Sarah has been a key collaborator with Pip and Nat since her arrival in the studio in 2007. Her speed and relentless curiosity empower an incisive approach to design at all scales – from the urban master plan to the occupation of a single room. Sarah’s is a beautiful combination of technical and design intelligence. She seeks the strongest solutions by attacking every problem from simultaneous angles. The result is an engaged, rapid, and responsive process of design, technical inquiry and implementation. The strength of that process enables Sarah to move confidently and effectively between projects of all types, scales and phases, applying the same depth of architectural intelligence to all.
Project Lead:
Redhills masterplan, Raphoe masterplan and development, Yacht Club Apartments Hobsonville, Mission Bay masterplan and commercial re-development, Rhubarb Lane.
Project Collaboration:
Awaawaroa Bay, Catalina Bay Masterplan and streetscape, Freemans Bay residence, Merchant stores, Private houses in Northland and Herne Bay, Mt Albert church, Stanbeth Excelsior Britomart, Church in the West.
Simon undertook several years of design and construction management in London before joining the studio in 2007. In the face of great complexity Simon maintains a continual calm, ensuring robust control of architecture and the processes of its implementation. Simon’s work leading Q Theatre delivered a complex and energetic building from an ambitious and multi-faceted brief, in an astonishingly constrained site. Simon’s experience integrating theatrical, commercial and hospitality imperatives at Q has since supported his work on large mixed-use projects, the nascent Tantalus Estate on Waiheke Island and the large-scale Catalina Bay development. Recently his work has extended to the residential sector where he has fostered the personal client relationships necessary to creating great architecture in this space.
Project Lead:
Heritage Offices Britomart, Catalina Bay, Tantalus Winery Waiheke, Alibi Brewery Waiheke, Shed 12, Q Theatre, Plaza Apartments, Waterside Apartments, Stanex Britomart
Project Collaboration:
The Hotel Britomart, Riddell Road House
Stephen was a founding architect at Cheshire. He has previously always pursued and questioned architecture rigorously, whether running his own award winning practice or tutoring in design at the School of Architecture, University of Auckland. He and Pip have collaborated for almost two decades. Stephen’s extraordinary sensitivity to space, light, material and assembly has, in that time, been brought to bear on a series of the studio’s major works. His ability to trace a finishing detail right through to its root in the first rough slab pour reveals a profound understanding of how great architecture is made. Stephen presently leads the most intensely detailed projects of the studio, roving from heritage loft conversions to private clubhouses set amongst coastal dunes.
Project Lead:
Hilltop House, House at Takapuna, Maritime Building, Mountain Landing Lodge, NSSC, Tara Iti Clubhouse, The Folly, The Landing Winery
Project Collaboration:
Q Theatre, Ford Lofts, Vineyard House, Fielding House, 1885, Café Hanoi, Stanex Britomart
Adrian strives to push the standard of design with a calm and disciplined style. Adrian is experienced in the residential construction market, in both the design & documentation of high-quality homes and leading those projects through construction. Adrian’s focus, leadership and ability to swiftly explore varying designs with the confident use of a pencil leaves him in a commanding position inside and outside of the studio. Adrian forges strong architecture.
Project Collaboration:
Katipo Drive House (Tara Iti), Vermont Street House
Emily’s career began in London where she worked and studied for eleven years before relocating to New Zealand in 2019. Her London work spanned a variety of complex projects at different scales from bespoke residential to large mixed-use developments in challenging and sensitive locations. She also worked on an exhibition at the Venice Biennale and has co-edited / produced several architectural publications.
In Auckland, Emily continues to tackle multifaceted and demanding projects with pragmatism and determination. She strives to create elegant and carefully crafted architecture, with an emphasis on a building’s relationship to its surroundings and the thoughtful use of materials.
Project Collaboration:
Scapegrace Distillery, Luxury Boatshed, 152 Quay Street, Nohanga
Jono began his creative career studying industrial design, but his work now straddles many design disciplines, covering architecture, interiors, industrial and product design. Jono worked in Berlin before settling in Wellington and joining the southern studio. With an ever curious and experimental spirit, Jono’s ingenuity and thoughtful attitude are hallmarks of all his projects.
Project Collaboration:
Upper Tukurua House, Organic cabins, The Hotel Restaurant Private Dining, Heritage Offices Britomart, Bus Shelter Prototype – Nationwide, Lake Hawea House, House at Lake Hayes, Private Residence in Wellington, Furniture design
Aiden is an architectural designer of discipline, precision and material sensitivity. He has experience in several imminent Auckland studios, anchored by two years of intensive work at the infamous Portuguese studio of Aires Mateus. His work at Aires Mateus spanned from luxury apartment and villa projects to major museums and an installation for the Venice Biennale of Architecture. Aiden’s work at Cheshire extends that elegant, minimalist foundation and he plays a key role in many of Cheshire’s most disciplined projects.
Project Lead:
Titirangi House Alterations, The Brake House
Project Collaboration:
Kings Plant Barn Stonefields Concept Store, The Hotel Britomart, The Landing Vineyard Villa Pool, Hinemoa Street House, Ford Loft Residences, Yacht Club Apartments, Dadelszen
Cameron is fuelled by the ever-growing potency of the digital in architecture. In addition to strong architectural and CAD abilities he has a range of skills from 3D modelling, parametric design, programming and digital image creation. Cameron worked in the Cheshire studio during his study, working with Pip on an innovative multi-unit residential project with local Iwi. Since joining Cheshire full time in 2019, Cameron has had a key role in the research and master planning work of Redhills. When he is not furiously computing, you will find Cameron co-leading the Auckland Architecture Association (AAA).
Project Collaboration:
Ngati Tamaoho Housing, Tara Iti Clubhouse Extension, AUT Wisdom Lab, Redhills
David Stubbs has joined the studio having worked for over a decade in the Marlborough region. David has an obsession for highly crafted environments that respond positively to their environments. He has a wealth of experience in the documentation and construction of private residences coupled with a calm focused demeanour. David is a driving force within the studio’s projects.
Isabella has received accolades from the University of Auckland, Designers Institute Best Awards and NZIA. Isabella lends us her ‘outside the square’ thinking and has quickly become a most valuable Graduate.
Jared has spent almost half a decade painstakingly modelling, cataloguing and documenting world-heritage sites in the Antarctic – including the huts that supported the polar expeditions of Scott and Shackleton. He has worked closely with Pip throughout those projects, supporting a global team in the carefully orchestrated and technically inventive stabilisation and preservation of these precious buildings. Jared’s determined documentation plays a critical part in the location and tracking of the many thousands of artefacts that make up the collections within the explorers huts.
Project Collaboration:
The Ross Island Heritage conservation project, Antarctica
Jonah takes a holistic and thoughtful approach to design. Prior to his arrival at Cheshire, Jonah had the unique experience of working on the redevelopment of Louis Kahn’s IIM campus in Ahmedabad, India. Jonah has a keen eye for detail and is experienced in the curation of highly complex spaces.
Project Collaboration:
Riddell Road House, Basement Day Spa, Ponsonby Extension, O'Neill street Pavilion
Karen leads the company’s financial management and performance analysis. Having previously owned and run her own business in the construction products industry. Karen is highly experienced and provides commercial and procurement support to projects as well as the practice.
Kate, a recent architectural graduate, holds a profound fusion of architectural prowess and an artistic sensibility deeply rooted in Kiwi culture. Her creative ethos is a blend of philosophy, poetry, and spatial mastery. She weaves these elements harmoniously into her projects, breathing life into spaces that transcend the ordinary and emerge as exquisite works of art, regardless of their scale.
Latoya has calmly managed the commercial demands of the office since 2011. She has continually shaped and refined Cheshire’s accounting systems in parallel with the studio’s evolving approach to its projects and is responsible for all of its billing, accounts receivable and annual reporting.
Lauren Ashley has a background in bespoke furniture production and merchandising, and has most recently expanded this field to include product development for commercial and residential spaces. Lauren has an extensive knowledge of materials and their specification; making her an integral part of our interior project delivery and installation team.
Lauren is an energetic and focused designer at all scales. She brings a strong emphasis on elegant architectural outcomes to the complexity of large scale project design development. Lauren builds on her experience of high end British housing to foreground the detailed interaction of building elements that create outstanding architecture.
Project Lead:
Mission Bay Masterplan, Matapouri House, SKHY 2
Project Collaboration:
Northern Club, Wintergarden, Buckland Masonic, Vermont Street House, Dune House
Lise is our most recent recruit having come to our attention following her achieving the ‘Peripheral’ category and Best Student at the 2023 AAA awards. Lise has a profound love for design and creation. Her work reflects her thoughtful approach and tireless dedication to all that she sets her sights upon. Lise is already contributing greatly to several of the studio's key projects.
Nicola leads the studio’s front of house team. It is Nicolas’s enthusiasm for looking after the studio and its people that has kept our studio running at full pace. Nicola thrives on a challenge. She organises our studio, its people and visitors with warmth, calmness and clarity. Nicola will always greet you with a warm and welcoming smile.
Paul is an architectural designer with a wealth of knowledge in the design, documentation and construction of complex private residences. He has experience in several prominent Auckland studios. Paul is equal parts curious as he is optimistic in his pursuit of highly resolved architectural outcomes and plays a key role in the leadership of some of the studios most complex projects.
Ruby is an integral member of the Wellington studio, bringing infectious energy and enthusiasm to all aspects of her projects. She brings expertise in renovation works and documentation to Cheshire and has her hand in several projects across the North and South Islands.
Project Collaboration:
Chief Post Office Base Building Heritage Upgrade Works, Kiwi Tavern Refurbishment, Tarawera House, Private Residence in Wellington
Surita is a graduate from the University of Auckland School of Architecture. A Kupe Leadership Scholarship recipient, Surita has a particular interest in the development of modern Pacific architecture. Surita’s innate ability for design exploration and spatial detail contributes to a diverse range of projects, from residential to broad master planning and to our very own studio.
Project Collaboration:
Private Residence in Herne Bay, Luxury Boatshed, Faradays, Hotel near Queenstown
Tom has worked and studied with prominent architects in Europe and Aotearoa. His work is focussed on the beautiful relationship between construction, space and meaningful material expression. His arts education has given him a wide skillset. This has led to exciting projects, such as participating in prestigious architecture biennales, galleries, and major competitions. He is also working on a monograph about Pritzker Prize-winning architect Sverre Fehn. Tom is detail-focused and naturally driven. He pursues high standards in all acts of architecture.
