The dynamic duo from Rogan Nash on the inspiration behind their designs

Tell me about yourselves and your pathway to architecture.

Kate: My grandfather was a draftsperson who drew the Auckland Harbour Bridge. He came from England, because at the time he wasn't allowed to build a gabled house in England, so he thought ‘Stuff that! I'm going to move to New Zealand’. So even though I didn't meet him because he died before I was born, I think it was always something in the back of my mind, maybe I could draw something special, too.

Eva: And for me, I've always wanted to be an architect. Since I was a little girl, I used to draw floor plans for my friends for their houses – in my mind they lived next door to me. Ever since then there’s nothing I've wanted to do, but be an architect.

How long have you known each other?

Eva: Kate and I met at uni and Kate was a year above me. We met through a mutual friend and we actually clicked then and have been friends ever since. As our journey through life evolved, it became clear that we both wanted to go on the same path, so that's when we joined forces and started up practice together, 10 years ago.

Tell me about your approach to design?

Kate: For us, when we look at architecture, we actually think it's all encompassing, which I know all architects say. But we actually really think that your architecture can change the way you feel about your life and really can enhance your day to day. We truly believe that where you live influences your daily experience and how you live your life and so for us, we think about this when we're designing.

Eva: It's about making this amazing experience, for example the experience of when someone wakes up and all of a sudden the sun is streaming in, and the same when they come home from work, that it's a place that they want to be – the place that they don't want to leave. One of the different things about our company is we see architecture as the entire building, not just the outside. The interior is really important to us, because we see that as an integral part of the architecture.

Do you have a philosophy around architecture?

Kate: We look at things slightly differently, because we have been clients, as well as architects, both of us have done our own renovations, and both have done new builds before and are now doing new builds again. We're believers in the process, all the way through to the end. So for us, it’s really about understanding how people live and how they want to live and how that house is really going to change their life.

Tell me about your personal experience designing your own home and how that informs your practice?

Eva: We've been on sites ourselves as the architects, but also as the clients, so we understand those stressors that someone can go through when they're asked questions, and have to have the answers immediately. So we help our clients to think about things earlier on, so that when they get to designing on site, everything's already done.

What is it like living in a house that you designed for yourself?

Kate: When you wake up each day in a house that you've designed yourself, I think obviously you thank your lucky stars that you're able to have your own house as an architect, because that is something that every architect really dreams of doing. But I think it also changes your perspective as a client, because it makes you really look at things from both sides, it makes you understand the design questions that you were asked. And it also makes you understand that relationship with the contractor a lot better.

Eva: It makes you want to take risks, because it means that you can experiment on yourself, not somebody else. And it's great when those risks really pay off. Pushing the boundaries a little bit further on your own project is really fulfilling and getting to experience it every day just makes you love the process even more – so much so that we both wanted to do it again!

Kate: The process makes you learn about yourself and about what your family needs and what other families may need as well, so it really gives you an overall perspective on your life and what other people's lives are like.

What does the future of New Zealand architecture look like to you?

Kate: We think that there's about to be a big change in density in all the cities around New Zealand, and New Zealand architecture needs to change and adapt with it. But not only that, we need to make sure that we're incorporating sustainable principles into those new designs. We have to think about the generations to come and the cities that they will be living in, because they will be living in the houses that we're putting together now.

Eva: I think when we go back 10 years, it's actually hard to imagine what it would have been like now – technology has moved on so much. So when I think about the future, to me, it doesn't seem like a challenge. It actually seems like something we should aspire to and look forward to, because it will only get better.

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