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Stunning photos show Otago's best new architecture
Otago’s top new architecture projects include heritage restorations, rammed earth homes and striking modern retreats.
Last updated: 27 May 2026
AI summary
The Southern Architecture Awards have celebrated Otago's best new architecture, highlighting projects for their innovative and sustainable design.
Standout winners include:
- Garden House in Wānaka, praised for its use of recycled and leftover materials.
- Courtyard House by Anna-Marie Chin Architects, a calm Arrowtown retreat on a constrained site.
- Ōtepoti Building in Dunedin by Warren and Mahoney, a low-carbon office featuring local bluestone.
These award-winning designs showcase a blend of modern aesthetics with environmental consciousness.
The verdicts are in and 27 Otago architechture projects have been named in the Southern Architecture Awards.
A double-winner precinct and a rammed earth home are among them. Take a look at our picks!
The Ayrburn Precinct
Here it is, the double award winner in both the heritage and hospitality categories - the judges say this restaurant Billy’s Homestead by SA Studio carefully balanced its heritage with modern use. The judges noted how the architects carefully allowed the become a restaurant while keeping its strong historic character. The interior of Burr Bar at Aryburn Precinct, also a winner this year, which serves cockails inside a cosy, layered and textured space.
Garden House
It’s part rambling cottage garden, part warm modernity - the judges praised this Wānaka home by Sarah Ritchie for thoughtful use of pine plywood linings, recycled hardwood cladding, and the reuse of leftover materials for the joinery and garden.
Garden House
Garden House has a compact 111m² floorplan designed for a family of four, and has greenhouses on site. Garden House has top level insulation and triple glazing, making it warm and cozy all year round.
Courtyard House
Just.. wow. The judges praised this Arrowtown retreat by Anna- Marie Chin Architects for the way it turned a constrained lakeside site into a calm, generous and informal masterpiece.
Courtyard House
Interior spaces were carefully arranged to open toward Waiwhakaata, or Lake Hayes. A carefully planned entry leads down into a sheltered courtyard, where planting, water, and natural light create calm.
Ōtepoti Building
Going to work Monday morning becomes a bit more fun with this four-storey office building by Warren and Mahoney and Aukaha. It’s in the centre of Dunedin and uses low carbon techniques, local bluestone, and features a light filled central atrium.
Ōtepoti Building is home to ACC workers. Photo: Ian Hutchinson
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