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Westmere Presbyterian Memorial Church wins NZIA Western Architecture Award

2024 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Local Architecture Award Winner

Westmere Presbyterian Memorial Church New Entry Building has been awarded a Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA Local Architecture Award for the Western region for Public Architecture.

"Non sibi sed aliis - not for self but for others. This project speaks directly of the community that drove it and the Presbyterian faith it fosters. The project achieves its brief without pomp and ceremony. It also veils the complexities that needed to be overcome – how to find thousands of outdated dimensioned bricks (you crowdsource, of course), or to save on the timber needed (you get your congregation to fell and mill their trees), or resolve how the church works for the addition (you just flip the interior layout around). This has not been a quick process – shifting and lifting of support buildings was done years ahead, helping ensure the new addition is connective and doesn’t dominate the church. Every step has been planned with the future outcome in mind."