McCahon House Artists’ Residency Parehuia

COMMUNITY / CIVIC

• PROJECT

  McCahon Artist Residence

• CLIENT

  McCahon House Trust

• LOCATION

  Titirangi, Auckland

• STATUS

  Completed

• AWARDS

  • NZ Institute of Architects New Zealand Award 2008

  • NZ Institute of Architects Local Award 2007

  • NZ Institute of Architects Colour Award 2007

“The decision to engage Bossley Architects on this project has been a great success and has given us a building that greatly exceeded our expectations.”

-Naomi McCleary, Chair McCahon House Trust

Colin McCahon was one of New Zealand’s premier 20th century painters. This artist’s residency is located adjacent to the cottage in which McCahon lived with his family and painted during a seminal period of his career in the 1950’s. It accommodates national and international recipients of scholarships and operates in conjunction with a museum in the refurbished original cottage. The new building is designed in two parts, one containing the studio and the other the residence. Its complex form is carefully designed to sit between the many trees (mainly kauri) on the site, which are especially significant given the role they played in the paintings McCahon produced in his shift towards abstraction.

The residence nestles against the land, while the studio towers amongst the trees on light steel framing. The structure is carefully designed to minimise interference to trees and site.