Enduring Architecture Award

On Friday 25 October, we received an Enduring Architecture Award from the Waikato / Bay of Plenty Branch of the NZIA.

The house was designed for Christine and Norman Harris in Lake Crescent in 1980.

They moved to Katikati a few years later.

Fortunately an enduring architecture award does not require the owners to endure, but their house did also receive an NZIA Branch award in 1981,under their watch.

Sally Wise, the new owner, repaired the cedar weatherboard cladding and replaced the main bedroom balcony with a complying glass balustrade unit.

She consulted with us and provided TLC where necessary, and we thank her for allowing us to enter her house.

I would also like to thank Matt Grant from the NZIA Branch for championing the house and David Cook  for his excellent photographs.

At the time of construction we could not find an interested  builder. Finally we were put onto Austrian, Sepp Santner.

After the war, Sepp sailed into Titahi Bay with many fellow Austrian builders to construct the state houses there.

Once they finished, the Austrian craftsmen dispersed throughout the country.

After Sepp finished the Harris House, he won a tender for staff housing behind the Chateau Tongariro, and co-incidence had it that Ernie Steigelbauer was then employed by the THC to look after the building aspects of their hotel.

After two days of schnapps and no work on site, I found out they hadn’t seen each other for 40 years.

It was also a very enjoyable evening for me in Hamilton, catching up with colleagues and fellow Hamiltonians, and it was good to see the Harris House looking as perky as new.