Modular Home Case Study Auckland’s housing crisis was the catalyst for our modular home project. Check out the design below! Modular Home Design A modular design can be replicated many times on one site. The same floor plan can be repeated to create stand alone homes, duplex units or apartments. The DWA modular home…
The Architects of Arch Hill Dixon Wild has been located in Arch Hill for many years. Arch Hill is a great place to have a workplace. It has a lot to offer, from cafes to art galleries. We thought we would compile a list of our favourite activities and landmarks in the area, have a…
Working from Home Tips Dixon Wild Architects spent the last lockdown (2021) working from home. Auckland was in lockdown for about 3 months. This is a long time to be away from the office! Working from home can have its distractions. During lockdown we learned a few things about maintaining productivity while working from home. We’ve listed…
Happy New Year! Happy New Year, Dixon Wild is back in the office. We are located in Auckland; like the rest of Auckland we were in lock down for over three months – home made pizza anyone! The Dixon Wild team worked from home during the Auckland lockdown. We managed to work on three projects…
Architecture books from our Library 1. Minimum by John Pawson Phaidon Press Ltd, London UK 1996 The book Minimum is a catalogue of minimalist spaces, textures, and environments. Minimum consists of mainly images – with very little text or explanation. It is a great book to flick though when we are in need of inspiration,…
Star Blocks and Medium Density Housing An introduction to Medium Density Housing The 1950s saw the rise of medium density state housing. Previously, New Zealand state homes were single dwellings on quarter acre sites. These developments, while successful at the time could only house one family per acre. Land prices and shortages in the 1950s…
Tamaki Drive Design Proposal In 1998 Bruce Wild proposed to develop the Tamaki Drive shoreline. His proposal encouraged pedestrian access to the shoreline, recreating a forgotten beach below Tamaki Drive. The proposal shown in the sketch above, 1998. Proposed Site Takaparawha Point sits between Okahu and Mission Bays. Tamaki Drive hugs Takaparawha Point.…
The Architect’s sketch Architects use sketching to explore concepts and ideas. A single sketch can govern the overall form of a building. As was the case for one of our recent projects; a Kainga Ora (Housing New Zealand) walk up apartment in Mangere. We developed the initial concept, taking the project to the resource consent…
Taking a visit to McCahon House History Last year Dixon Wild visited the McCahon House. The house sits amongst native New Zealand bush in the leafy suburb of Titirangi. It provides an insight into how the artist Colin McCahon lived when he moved to Auckland from the South Island. McCahon lived in the house with…
Making a site model is a useful exercise for architects during the preliminary design stage. It allows us to experiment with forms on the site; and to figure out what does or does not work. We recently created a physical model for our Whangaruru project. We documented the process with photos below. Step 1: Site…