Wellington architect Hugh Tennent was the recipient of the Home and Entertaining Home of the Year Award 2006. His design has been described as "so refined and deeply responsive to its site that it already feels as if it has been there forever". The Big Idea's Isaac Davison spoke to Hugh about the winning home, sacred spaces, and eco-design... Wellington architect Hugh Tennent was the recipient of the Home and Entertaining Home of the Year Award 2006. His design has been described as "so refined and deeply responsive to its site that it already feels as if it has been there forever". The Big Idea's Isaac Davison spoke to Hugh about the winning home, sacred spaces, and eco-design...Isaac Davison: Do you see yourself as influenced by a NZ tradition, or do you work within more of an international context?

Hugh Tennent: I'm influenced by both. The Days Bay home ('Home of the Year') has elements of Finnish architect Alvor Aalto's work, inspired by his Villa Mairea (built in the 1930s). But it also has regional influences: it attempts to work with the bush setting and its location near the sea, and is responsive to the site.

Why does Aalto's work resonate so strongly with New Zealanders?

Aalto was working in a country with a similar size population to New Zealand. Finns also have a similar relationship with the natural environment to us. I am told Finland has similar qualities of light to New Zealand, and that they also share the humanist traditions which make up our social fabric. Finns do have a more highly developed craft sensibility, owing to their longer history. They are specialists in fine things.

Several architects from Finland influence ideas in New Zealand (Asplund, Sverre Fehn), but Aalto's legacy is the strongest.

Your 'Home of the Year' is in an incredible setting. Are the challenges the same in suburban spaces?

There was a challenge and a beauty to the project in Days Bay, because there was so much to respond to - the sea view, the site among the trees. It would be a completely different challenge to work with a bare suburban site, but I haven't done any projects in the suburbs recently.

There seems to be a trend in recent architecture in the building of towers (several nominees for 'Home of the Year' feature towers). Are they a folly? Are they used? In New Zealand, towers were initially built for captains, to overlook the sea - why is a tower relevant today?

There is definitely a use for the tower in the Days Bay home - practically and aesthetically. One of the owners is an academic and therefore needs the escape from his five children in his tower study. It also punctuates the end of a long, deep building.

Much of the family orientation involves the sea, so the tower plays the part of a lighthouse. It is the only part of the house seen from the water, and the ferry. The house doesn't overwhelm the site, but has a small presence.

You are also a teacher of meditation. Does meditation inform your architectural process?

Yes, it influences both practice and conception. I have been involved in the planning of several sacred spaces: a Buddhist monastery in Stokes Valley, a Retreat Centre in Thames, and several Christian Churches in Wellington.

Is it possible to bring the sacred into the home?

In making houses I try to create a rejuvenating space, and a sense of calm. My approach to spirituality is based on self-awareness, and spaces that encourage reflection support the investigation of our spiritual nature.

I do bring spiritual elements into houses, but in secular, understated ways. By using certain qualities of light and materials, I can create beauty, and beauty uplifts the spirit. It is subjective, but it is also not subjective - I ask what makes a sacred space reverent or spiritual - form, mass, light, space - and gesture towards these things without being too overt.

Is your emphasis on eco-design an extension of that?

It has been. The basic understanding of the interconnectedness of all things, and my belief that our actions affect people and places around us, informs my environmental concern.

There is an increasing recognition worldwide that sustainability is at the edges of a lot of fields. Soon sustainability will becomes mandatory. In London, for a new building to get consent, it must prove it can generate 20% of its own energy - and that's fantastic.

In 15 years, photovoltaic panels will become commonplace, along with solar water heaters. But whole areas of technology must be developed to make sustainability happen, and to make eco-design a commercial reality.

Is eco-design affordable today? Or is it a luxury?

It is suggested and proposed in every project. As more companies undertake environmental concerns, and the costs come down, it will get easier to work with eco-friendly methods.

What is next on your agenda? Any exciting projects?

We are doing a project currently in Marlborough Sounds for two French clients living in Asia. The site is so remote that we are prefinishing the construction in Blenheim, and flying it in with New Zealand's largest helicopter!

5/9/06