Celebrating Aotearoa, New Zealand female architects at the 2023 A+W•NZ Dulux Awards

The 2023 A+W•NZ Dulux Awards were held on the 16th of September, in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, at the Northern Club—a location selected not without an oblique sense of politics, as a place that only admitted women from 1990. Those who couldn’t make it in person also enjoyed the event through a direct live stream, which can be found on this link.

With Master of Ceremony Mava Moayyed, award-winning journalist and TVNZ Sunday reporter, the evening flew by, rhythmed by the live music of Twistin’ the Swing and the delicious three-course menu served by the staff of the Northern Club.

After welcome drinks, the evening began with a traditional and generous mihi whakatau from Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei representatives, followed by Mava's introduction and co-chairs Gina Hochstein and Jaime Lawrence's speech, sharing the aim of the awards and the A+W•NZ organisation, recognising our broader contributors, including Ainsley O'Connell, the artist and trophy designer. The introduction concluded with Simon Blincoe, representing Dulux, the main sponsor of the awards since 2014.

Under the glass ceiling of the Winter Garden dining room, the audience and judges praised the talent of our fifteen finalists. Each coming from varying backgrounds, practices and parts of the country, the finalists represent women's visibility in Architecture, thus overcoming another kind of glass ceiling.

The three awards, the Wirihana Leadership Award, the Munro Diversity Award and the Chrystall Excellence Award, recognised the careers and overall contributions to Architecture of the winners. It wasn't an easy task for the four judges, Justine Clark, Craig Moller, Dr. Sarah Treadwell and Carinnya Feaunati, to make a decision with such great, talented and distinguished recipients—as Justine Clark shared with the audience in a moving speech.

The excitement rose with the first award of the evening, the Wirihana Leadership Award, celebrating a developing career for females in their second decade after graduation. The five talented finalists were Charlotte Hoare, Haley Hooper (Ngāpuhi), Kelly O’Sullivan, Raukura Turei (Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, Ngā Rauru Kitāhi) and Sally Ogle.

Raukura Turei won the accolade, beautifully sharing her thoughts with the group in te reo Māori. Following is her jury’s citation:

Raukura Turei is an extraordinary practitioner. Her work is characterised by two distinct pursuits—architectural practice and fine art—and she excels in both. This in itself is a remarkable achievement, but Raukura is also an actor and performer, a parent and an enabler of others. She is a committed contributor to the wider community and an active participant in organisations across the arts, design and architecture. She is dedicated to empowering communities and providing a strong voice for Te Ao Māori.

The nomination by Monk Mackenzie, the practice in which Raukura is a Principal, gives some clue to how she achieves this extraordinary combination of activity. The affectionate text points to her “fierce commitment to maintaining boundaries to ensure a balance that enables her to flourish in the art and architectural worlds”. This is exemplary and, we imagine, hard to maintain, given the notoriously demanding nature of both fields. The nomination also explains that Raukura is a visible parent, who does not hide the complexities of moving between professional and personal lives. The refined quality of the architectural projects led by Raukura has been recognised through peer awards and publications.

Within Monk Mackenzie, her work focuses on projects with iwi, mana whenua and community. She describes her approach as “elevating Te Ao Māori within the built environment and ensuring the communities and whānau that I am working with are empowered within the design process.” Raukura’s collaborative leadership approach is eloquently described by her colleagues: “Her passion for architecture’s moral, cultural, and aesthetic potential means she inspires partners and collaborators to see their place in a project. She seeks out and makes welcome partners from a broad spectrum of society including artists, cultural figures, construction specialists, landscape ecologists, museum curators, social workers and artefact restorers to name a few. Raukura commands broad industry trust and respect.”

Raukura’s practice as a painter is also inventive and highly regarded. Drawing on her spatial knowledge, it is grounded in explorations of materials collected from Papatūānuku, particularly aumoana/blue clay and onepū/black sand. Described as a tool to connect to her tīpuna, these works have been exhibited across New Zealand and internationally, with much more to come.

Raukura actively supports others, in both a personal capacity and as part of collectives and groups. She is engaged with her iwi, Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, and is a member of the Ngā Aho network of Māori design professionals, the Ōrotokare: Art, Story, Motion Trust and the Kauae Raro Research Collective. She was also involved in A+W•NZ. Within Monk Mackenzie, Raukura set up the Wahine support group and mentors her colleagues in mātauranga Māori and working with Māori communities. She also helps increase the visibility of architecture as a career with Māori school children. The Wirihana Leadership Award recognises the achievements of women in the second decade following graduation. The jury is deeply impressed by what Raukura has achieved in this time, and greatly looks forward to following her work in the decades to come.

The second award of the night was the Munro Diversity Award, celebrating individuals or practices working to support diversity in Architecture. The five extraordinarily talented finalists were ĀKAU, Dorita Hannah, Jessica Halliday, Kathy Waghorn, and Tessa Forde with Groupwork + Pre-fab.

The winner was Kathy Waghorn. As she couldn’t attend the celebrations, she watched the live stream from Australia. Her HOOPLA partner, Nina Patel, claimed the trophy on her behalf and shared Kathy’s gratitude to the audience. The jury’s citation was as follows:

Dr. Kathy Waghorn is a highly esteemed academic whose work over many decades has constantly challenged the ideas of practice and pedagogy. Kathy’s work skillfully navigates the intersections of art, design, architecture and urbanism to expand the practice of architecture and to make it more accessible. This sustained tenacity and the impact it has had on shaping the education and practice for so many across Aotearoa and abroad embodies the values of the Munro Diversity Award.

In 2013, Kathy and Nina Patel established HOOPLA, a social enterprise carrying out urban research for place advocacy in Tāmaki Makaurau. Described as an ultra-local practice, where ultra-local knowledge is sought through noticing a place at scales from the macro to the micro. HOOPLA projects involved carefully crafted situations hikoi (walks), kayak trips, flotilla, day-long installations, newspapers, afternoon teas and streetside performances through which ultra-local knowledge could be fostered, shared and deepened. In 2016, Kathy’s energy and curiosity for new ways of thinking were sought for the world stage and saw her appointed as the Co-creative Director of ‘Future Islands’, the New Zealand Exhibition at the 15th Venice Architecture Biennale.

As an Associate Professor of Architecture at the Huri Te Ao, Auckland University of Technology (AUT), following over a decade of teaching at SoAP, Kathy was known for her engaging teaching style and her ability to inspire students. She encourages them to think critically and challenge conventional design approaches. She is a firm believer that architects have a responsibility to imagine and create built environments that are not only reflective of people, place, and culture but also contribute to the well-being of our communities. Kathy’s current research is focused on regenerative practices and indigenous knowledge frameworks. Kathy’s ethos is clear in her longstanding commitment to research-led teaching in architecture, which has informed her scholarly publishing on architectural pedagogy. Her publication list is extensive, from academic journals and published books to sharing her expertise in mainstream news articles.

With her unwavering commitment to architectural practice that challenges us to question the status quo and her dedication to educating the next generation of architects, artists and activists, Dr. Kathy Waghorn has been instrumental in shaping the future of architecture in Aotearoa. With her sharp intelligence and her prodigious capacity for engaged hard work, Kathy continues to open doors for many in academia and practice, and her vision of a just and open architecture will continue to serve as an inspiration to students, professionals, and the wider community for years to come.

The final award for the evening was the Chrystall Excellence Award, celebrating the entire and rich career of a woman in the field of architecture. The five extremely talented finalists were Anna-Marie Chin, Jane Rooney, Julia Gatley, Sharon Jansen and Sue Evans.

Sharon Jansen was announced the winner to an enthusiastic noise of applause from the room. Following is her jury’s citation:

The outstanding architectural design talent of Sharon Jansen is evident in the wide compass of her fully realised, carefully designed and technically assured architecture. Her substantial body of work has been undertaken in international and local practices and has flourished in her own practice established in 2013. Sharon’s work, with its beautifully proportioned spaces, brings together everyday materials with grace and warmth. Attention to the needs and desires of clients is evident in the commentaries on her architecture and the quality of her production is affirmed by the number and significance of architectural awards received for her. Sharon was made a Fellow of Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA in 2013.

With a great deal of modesty, Sharon has provided valuable leadership to the architectural community. A member of Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA Wellington Branch Committee she has served on Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA architectural juries at local and national level and she was the convenor of the National Awards in 2021 during the Covid lockdown. In these roles her ability to maintain a positive spirit was much appreciated, as was her recognition of the potential for design excellence in a full range of architecture.

Sharon has a particular ability to foster a sense of collegiality among the architectural community. As well as participating in the wider life of the architecture and the city with exhibitions and events she regularly meets with women architects for mutual support and advice. Sharon has provided valuable and ongoing mentoring of great benefit to colleagues and students actively encouraging the submission of work for awards. Her generosity and her rigour are consistently acknowledged.

Sharon has contributed to architectural education at many levels. She is on the Management Committee for Accreditation of the Architecture Schools for the New Zealand Registered Architects Board Te Poari Kaihoahoa Ngaio Rēhita o Aotearoa, and she is a standing panel member for accreditation procedures. Sharon has taught in architecture and interior programmes at Victoria University Te Herenga Waka and Massey University Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa in Wellington, where her architectural skills and critical design understanding were much appreciated.

In a world in which there are relatively few senior women architects, Sharon is a model of how to retain a balance between a passionate commitment to architecture and to family life and she stands as someone who has weathered the complications of both with style and warmth. Sharon Jansen was nominated for the Chrystall Excellence Award because of her very impressive body of sensitive design work, her continuing dedication and contribution to the profession and her mentorship and support of other women architects.

After the awards ceremony, the audience mingled and connected. It was a time of laughter, congratulations and extensive photo calls—opportunity to freeze these beautiful moments in time. It was also a moment for the A+W team, particularly those who worked tirelessly to successfully organise this important event, to reunite and share their joy.

Towards the end of the successful evening, the crowd picked up the complimentary awards publications, posters under their arms, finding their way out, the 2023 A+W•NZ Dulux Awards came to an end. It was a wonderful evening, filled with warmth, happiness, and respect. Also a huge sense of accomplishment, a feeling that New Zealand female-leading Architecture is getting stronger, pursuing standards of excellence, dedication and inclusiveness. Nothing but excellence for our local built environment. As Mava quoted earlier, concluding the formalities, “Who runs the world? Girls!”. And it felt like it on the night.

To see more images of the evening, follow this link to the photo gallery.

If you’d like to relive the night, you can watch the recording of our live stream at this link. Emotions of joy and pride guaranteed!

If you would like your piece of the 2023 A+W•NZ Dulux Awards, you can purchase the awards publication here. All funds go to support the A+W•NZ organisation to help pursue our aim of raising the visibility of women trained in architecture in Aotearoa, New Zealand and celebrating the outstanding contributions of women to our built environment and architectural communities. We are forever grateful to the Warren Trust for their support in bringing this 2023 awards publication to print.

We are also grateful to architect and artist Ainsley O’Connell for designing and making the beautiful cast-glass trophies for these awards. We also extend our thanks to Catherine Griffiths for her graphic design work on the awards logo and publication and Elizabeth Cox for her invaluable time in helping us with the editing.

An immense thank you to all the wonderful volunteers of A+W•NZ, without whom this organisation wouldn’t be what it is today. Particularly to the event team, who put together a fantastic awards night—Kitty Fan, Selena Sager, Maria Chen, Kaea Kerkin, Ornela Priotti, Yvette Loubser, Kelly Ting, Charlotte Dunning and Bronya Webb + our co-chairs Jaime Lawrence, Gina Hochstein and our archivist and co-founder Lynda Simmons.

A warm thank you is extended to our photographer for the evening, Tracey Creed, who captured these 2023 A+W•NZ Dulux Awards with elegance on film.

Lastly, if you wish to support A+W•NZ in continuing its important work, please do support us.

words by Amandine Paniagua