Creative, individual and modern Architecture is personal and energising...
...it's about creating form and space intentionally moulded around people, reflecting their life, their style, the way they want to live... it's about responding to the land and environment, sculpturally responding to everything natural and made, and with clever problem solving making difficult seem effortless.
Buildings are serious things. They are a significant investment, will last an enormously long time and involve enormous amounts of technical and creative input to make them the best they can be. This is where we do our work with specialist knowledge, skill and experience, blending timeless artistic rules with modern technical solutions and vision to the future.
Investing in carefully crafted Architecture and bold, solid and robust construction can be one of the most satisfying things you can do. It not only provides real value and enjoyment but the opportunity to truly express who you are.
You deserve it!
Architecture is all about responding. Our approach to design responds to thought, perception, program, emotions and context. These things done well create beauty....
We know what a 'high performance house' really means. It's actually all the cool things you cant see, the things hidden in the core, designed and built-into the way it is made....
Honest materials are confident, they know where they come from and what they are doing. Real materials used as close to raw as they can be, can deliver like no other....
Making a great building starts with a great concept, plans and drawings worked out to perfection. Great project management has it constructed just the way it was meant to be....
The difference working with a professional Registered Architect for your project is the depth of knowledge, experience and resources that will ensure your project is truely unique....
A selection of our projects...
Sometimes a great brief and spectacular site come together in ways that allow magic to happen. We walk the land and look, listen, talk, analyse, think and sketch. Developing a true meaning and purpose informs our actions and defines the path to a perfect solution.
What we design and construct now gives pleasure to others long after we have finished and left. The quality of the legacy left behind is the point of our work.
A few Concrete Houses
Everything we design still starts with hand sketches and then creatively and technically developed in 3D BIM software. This ensures the design, technical detail and construction processes are seamlessly integrated. Images and other media can be produced from the design model to let us and our clients visually test every idea as the project unfolds. Nothing ever happens by accident.
This selection of our conceptual work illustrates the variety of projects currently in the planning stages, in construction, or for one reason or another didnt get off the ground. Unbuilt work is almost as important as built work in that every new design problem generates a new solution which is added to our extensive design knowledgebase and body of work. That formidable resource is drawn upon for every new project.
The Ocean View House was featured on GRAND DESIGNS AUSTRALIA (Series 3 Episode 8)
The story of our clients journey and how it was built is not to be missed.
OCEAN VIEW COUNTRY HOUSE is carved into the ridgeline of a mountainous rural bushland estate in Queensland Australia. Although with spectacular views, the site is also subjected to Extreme Winds and Bushfire. For this reason construction is entirely of Concrete and Steel with zero-timber content. It is robust, fire resistant and self-reliant including on-site water collection for both household use and firefighting, and delivers very high levels of thermal performance and energy efficiency. The house is designed to have two distinct personalities; a fortress-like public side and an open private side and roof terrace for capturing the views. The Brutalist style architecture is infused with a Japanese 'wabi-sabi' appreciation of rawness, texture and form inside and out that reflects the local natural environment, and delivers a pared-back, safe and very comfortable family gallery-house for art pieces, sculpture, family gatherings, entertaining and enjoyment of abundant life in the country.
Some images courtesy of Paul Broben Photographer/FOXTEL
The other side of Architecture is Construction. Attending to the site-work is essential to ensure the essence of the Architecture is not lost, and everything goes together exactly the way it is meant.
WE LOVE CONCRETE......!
As you have probably guessed, we really like working with concrete.
The limited palette of core construction materials we like to work with is concrete, structural steel, aluminium, glass and fine timbers. Limiting choices keeps us focussed, but these materials used to their full potential allow better buildings to be built without physical constraint or structural vulnerability. And there is nothing more satisfying than the texture and quality of concrete and the living experience of an industrial strength building.
We do love timber, but in respect for the forests and their fragile ecosystems we use timber thoughtfully, carefully and sparingly, and only in finishing work for its inherent visual beauty, texture and warmth.
Martin is a Registered Architect with a passion for cutting-edge architecture, design, and advanced building sciences. With his work in practice, academic research and ongoing technical R&D activities, he has developed unique knowledge and expertise in modern concrete-based industrial techniques for achieving Resilient, Sustainable and highly Efficient next-generation housing.
Martin is a bold, creative but thoughtful Architect and designer, approaching every project from a fresh position with focus on form, space, beauty, performance, and most importantly, the people the building is made for.
(He is also apparently a pretty friendly guy and always ready for a chat about most things...)
We are always thinking about design and new ways to create unique buildings. Our approach is a little different, and we have some pretty strong core values that set us apart. We have included a few of these thoughts and philosophies in our blog page for a little more background about us.
So perhaps grab a coffee and let us share a few of our design perspectives......
Houses - Small Urban to Country Lodge
Multi-Unit Residential
Apartments and Mid-Rise Commercial
Interior Architecture & Space Planning
Luxury & High-Performance Residential
Project & Planning Feasibility Studies
Conceptual Design & Presentation
Design & Documentation Management
Project Management
Full Professional Architect Services
Design for True Sustainability & Resilience
ICF and Concrete Design & Technical Experts
Design for Modern Methods of Construction
Individual, Creative and Free-Form, Context-Specific Architecture, and very good ideas!
Architects S.PA is based in the South Island of New Zealand with a focus on creating high quality and timeless Architecture for local and international clients.
We only accept a limited number of projects at any one time to ensure our high standards and services are consistent for every client, therefore each project is considered by application only.
If you feel your project might be a good fit and would like to have it considered, then please contact Martin directly by email or phone, or by message from the form below.
MARTIN CHANT Architect
Architects S.PA/Studio of Progressive Architecture
P.O. Box 1810
Christchurch City 8140
New Zealand
CONTACTS
Email: studio@martinchant-architect.com
Web: www.martinchant-architect.com
Phone: NZ (03) 337 1360
Phone: int +64 3 337 1360
Mobile: NZ 027 512 4148
Mobile : int +64 27 512 4148
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