Articles | Events

ADNZ Bus Tour March 2021

Thursday, 29 April 2021
By Clara Sumner

ADNZ Architectural Bus Tour: Where Members Live.

A sneak peek into the homes of some of Christchurch’s most talented designers provided plenty of inspiration for the 35 attendees of this year’s ADNZ Canterbury/Westland architectural bus tour.

Focussing primarily on the Mt Pleasant-Redcliffs area, the March 20 tour took in seven of the city’s most interesting architectural gems, from a 70’s treasure  originally designed by the late Don Cowie to a home innovatively crafted on a budget, and a new build with a Homestar 10 rating – a world leading standard for design, construction and efficiency.

For Clara Sumner, Partnership Manager at Winstone Wallboards, the tour was a wonderful way to engage with the design community and bond over their shared love of design and architecture.

“The annual Canterbury/Westland ADNZ architectural bus tour is always a fantastic day out, and such a great opportunity to connect with others in our industry over something we are all passionate about,” says Clara.

At each property, designers provided a briefing of the design of their home and outlined any challenges they faced – from budget, to site, to earthquake rebuild challenges. This inevitably led to insightful discussions around performance, material choice, function and – most importantly – enjoyment.

“This year each home was completely different but what was really interesting was that many had an earthquake story to tell. One of the homes was deemed a write-off after the earthquakes but was painstakingly saved by its architecture-loving owners, while a couple of the others faced the challenge of building family homes on difficult hill sites that really challenged the creative, particularly when working within a defined budget. One of these homeowner's first child was born around the time the build started and another home was built on a site demolished due to earthquake damage, abandoned by the previous owner, creating a beautiful family home designed to accommodate an elderly father. There was lots of diversity!”

Organised by architectural designer Faye Pearson-Green, the event is sponsored by ADNZ Principal Partner GIB®, with additional support from Firth and APL. While the architectural bus tour is always a calendar highlight, for Clara, this year proved even more memorable than usual -  her home was one of those visited and the chosen spot for the catered lunch!

“It was meant to be a tour of designers’ own homes. I’m not a designer but due to my long-standing relationship with the industry I was brought into the fold. On a personal level that was pretty special for me.”