10 Questions with Dorrington Atcheson Architects

1 December 2025

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We've been following Dorrington Atcheson Architects for quite some time and recently we caught up with them for a quick interview. It's been a pleasure to delve into their archives of residential and commercial work. The practice clearly demonstrates a vibrant and thoughtful interpretation of space, material, volume and colour.

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Pocket Houses at Avenue Road, Dorrington Atcheson Architects

Photography / Simon Wilson and Paul Brandon — Pocket Houses at Avenue Road, Dorrington Atcheson Architects Photography / Simon Wilson and Paul Brandon

‍If you hadn't devoted your career to architecture, what else would you be doing?

Tim Dorrington / I'm not really sure. In some ways you sort of develop into yourself as you get older so it's more of a question for earlier in life. I like architecture involves so many different aspects, it keeps you interested. Design and art, to interpersonal relationships, to structure and formality. It keeps things interesting.

Sam Atcheson / Working in the garden... re-wilding our suburban section, florist, yoga instructor, paramedic.

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What does your creative process entail?

TD / Good question! It's an immersion in the specific conditions of the project – the site, the brief, the discussions, the whims of that time, and then you seem to go into the zone and get inspired. Trial and error. Sketches and over sketches, I keep refining. Decisions and discarding ideas and feeling around the edges until it feels right.

SA / Tim and I generally talk through the parameters and potential directions. Then will go off and beaver away. The process is different for a renovation and a new build. With a renovation there is a lot more working through potential layouts. It is generally an iterative reshaping of what is already there, sort of like sculpting clay. With new builds inspiration will usually strike all at once and carry the project in a particular direction.

What are you currently working on?

TD / Developing our Pocket House prototypes as well as several houses both big and small. From beach houses to baches, urban houses and renovations.

SA / A mixture of city houses and beach houses, new builds and renovations. Also new models of Pocket Houses.

[Our creative process is] an immersion in the specific conditions of the project – the site, the brief, the discussions, the whims of that time, and then you seem to go into the zone and get inspired. - Tim Dorrington

Pocket Houses at Avenue Road, Dorrington Atcheson Architects

Sharing the same formal design language of the Pulse family of objects, the greater breadth of the Pulse Platter produces slightly deeper ripples of glass, which radiate from the centre. The result is an elegant pattern of vertical waves around part of its circumference, highlighting the asymmetry of the design within a perfectly symmetrical form.

How do you push boundaries within architecture?

TD / Try and stay curious and keep trying to surprise yourself. Let the spatial design dictate the finishes and keep interested.

SA / We like to find creative ways to fulfil the clients brief. We are aiming to give clients something that they love but could not have imagined themselves.

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What is sustainable in your eyes?

TD / It can be many things. Well designed spaces that last the test of time and elongate the life of the building on the site. It is the use of considered materials and construction techniques to support the design. It's not being now or current, it's trying not to be defined by time.

SA / Sustainable is living in harmony with community and the natural environment.

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What would you consider your career milestone?

TD / Architecture can be a life long project, so I'm not sure if I'm there yet. On a project basis I do take joy in our Pocket House prototypes, simply as we were the client, the architect and the developer. It has been a risk and it's been lovely to see how it has resonated.

SA / Joining Tim in working at DAA.

Mataura Rise House, Dorrington Atcheson Architects‍

We like to play with form and materials to create architecture that is unexpected and creates joy for our clients. - Sam Atcheson

Allum St House Revisited, Dorrington Atcheson Architects‍

‍Could you name a few sources of your inspiration sources?

TD / Initially Japanese architecture – my parents lived in Japan while I was at university. Then the case study house program by American magazine Art & Architecture, Mario Botta, Rudolf Schindler as well as Palm Springs tract housing from the 1950s.

SA / Nature and how the urban environment can work with instead of against the natural world.

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What principles are essential trademarks of your visual language and aesthetic?

TD / A reduction of things - from the material palette to the detailing. Clean spaces and lines and an honesty of materials and structure. Hopefully surprise and discovery.

SA / Clarity of form and in particular in relation to the use of materials. Material selection is essential in conveying our ideas. We like to play with form and materials to create architecture that is unexpected and creates joy for our clients.

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What are your top 5 picks at Good Form / Mr. Bigglesworthy right now? ‍

TD / Grete Jalk Model 118 Sofa, Heals of London Sideboard, Wim Rietveld Drafting Table, Pulse Tall Vase, Shimmer Tealight.

SA / Stoff Nagel Candle Holder, Pulse Platter, Tomado Shelving, 'Ladderax' Freestanding Two Bay Shelving Unit, Citrus Squeezer by Gidon Bing.

Whareora House, Dorrington Atcheson Architects

"We like to find creative ways to fulfil the clients brief. We are aiming to give clients something that they love but could not have imagined themselves." - Sam Atcheson

Did anyone or anything in specific inspire you to pursue what you are doing now?

TD / Not as such. It was more of a decision based on what I didn't want to do. I've always liked drawing and making, but that's the same with a lot of kids. I did one day when I was really young, maybe 5 or 6, go to a family friend's house in Wellington that I later found out was an Athfield house with porthole windows and tunnels and I do remember liking how you could live in a house that was also a playground.
SA / My parents have inspired me the most. My father is an engineer and taught me about structure from a young age. So even now I can't look at a material or structure without thinking about tension, compression and bending moments. My mother is curious about life and has lead me to be curious about people and how they want to live.

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For more visit Dorrington Atcheson Architects at daa.co.nz

We are grateful to Tim, Sam and Emma-Jane for their time to put this together.