weaves Māori cultural elements into house-of-the-year-nominated design
Architect Kyle Tiweka Anaru is the principal of the Tohu Workshop of Architecture, a small practice based in Waihī Beach. His Homunga Bay container house Rua Puoto, which simply means “two containers”, has been named a finalist in Home magazine’s house of the year, wowing the judges with its Māori cultural elements blended with design.
The house was carefully designed to sit gently in the landscape looking over Homunga Bay while borrowing from the surrounding spaces - extending the sense of its volume.
It’s a huge achievement for Waihī College-educated Kyle Anaru, who said he is “up against all the huge practices from Auckland, Wellington and other cities”.
After high school, Anaru said he headed to Auckland where he completed his bachelor’s degree in architecture, before working in a handful of well-known practices in Auckland and a “good stint in Gisborne”, before coming back to Waihī, where he started Tohu Workshop of Architecture in 2015, “starting slowly and building from there to where we’re at today”.
Link to article: Waihī architect Kyle Anaru weaves Māori cultural elements into house-of-the-year-nominated design - NZ Herald
