new spaces 10 EN

South Island and graduated from Unitec Institute of Technology, is regarded as a computer expert. He says, “We struck up a good working relationship very early on. It’s something we purposefully don’t analyse very much.” The only rule they have is that nothing goes ahead until they’re both happy with it: “If one of us is troubled about an aspect, we’ll continue to work until we’re both excited about it.” Lawson regards his partner’s veto right as a challenge rather than a limitation. “I couldn’t imagine sitting down with a blank piece of paper and trying to design something without Nick’s input now,” he says. Stevens is also enthusiastic about the collaboration: “Between us, it’s all hands on deck to work out the best way a design comes together. It’s really free — it’s a good way to work.” As a result of the permanent dialogue, he says, certain dominant themes have developed. Stevens and Lawson put themselves in the tradition of Group Architects. Formed in the postwar era in New Zealand, the fi rm built few houses, but aimed high. “They were looking for a regional modern architecture,” says Stevens. “Not the international style, all horizontal planes and glass, but something that keyed in to what was important in this country.” Like the Group, Stevens Lawson’s design work has an acute sensitivity to the landscape around it. However, this contemporary practice has transcended the by-now standard concept of “indoor-outdoor” living to create projects that are, to use Stevens’ phrase, in conversation with their environment. For example, a recently completed project in the wine growing region of Hawke’s Bay has a lighter, more permeable structure that the architects deliberately designed with reference to the vernacular architecture of a wool shed — refl ecting the history of the clients, who lived on a sheep station for 30 years. Stevens Lawson builds not only in the quiet hinterlands but also in the lively major cities of this island nation. It’s true that two inner-city construction projects have fallen victim to the fi nancial crisis, but Stevens Lawson is increasingly es- tablishing itself in the fi eld of urban architecture. The partners are now beginning work on a music school in Hawke’s Bay and restarting their most ambitious and large-scale project to date — a new public development for the Auckland City Mission, which covers half an inner-city block and will provide a public square, social housing, a detox centre, a medical centre and offi ces for the adjoining St Matthews in the City church. Currently, the western side of the central city is bleak. It’s scored by lanes of fast-moving traffi c, but is also densely populated. “It’s an exciting time to be involved in the regeneration of the city,” says Stevens. The project will, he says, be a socially responsible legacy, creating human-scale spaces that bring life and community back to the centre of the city. “There’s fi nally a sense that the people governing this place actually believe in urban design and great architecture,” he adds. For such projects you need clients with vision as well, says Stevens. One of them is the City Council of Auckland, which is starting to look beyond tax collection and, as he puts it, this is “leading to some unprecedented big-picture thinking”. Says Stevens, “Good architecture isn’t only for the wealthy, it’s for everybody.” Further information www.stevenslawson.co.nz Woodwork Westmere House in Auckland consists of cubes of diff erent sizes that almost look like Lego blocks and are sheathed in dark wood. For this building, Stevens Lawson won the “Home of the Year” award in 2007. PHOTOGRAPHY: MARK SMITH 39

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