SPACE architecture studio Ltd

Trendy Barbers have opened at 99 Mana Esplanade next to Magpie at Paremata...get your fade today!

Coming soon to 99 Mana Esplanade ~
A new building by .co.nz for First Commercial Ltd.

Designed as a bespoke office for the local Bayleys team, the building also complements the container pop-ups we’ve designed for the same site. It happens to sit directly across the road from our own little SPACE studio on Mana Esplanade — a nice bonus.

The site came with more than a few challenges: flood hazard considerations and a spider’s web of underground services, including council sewer and stormwater easements we couldn’t build over. Careful thinking around foundations and layout was essential (we do love a challenge).

The resulting footprint is small and compact, at around 120sqm, but rich in intention. The backlit pohutakawa silhouette is intended as an homage to the promenade of pōhutukawa trees that used to line the boundary, and anchors the building firmly in its coastal context. In response, we’ve also designed the surrounding landscape to introduce more appropriate planting — kōwhai, native green walls, and layered native planting — to soften the site and strengthen its connection to place.

Masterton Project update #2
We are celebrating the innovative stair/ladder to access the mezz level in the main bedroom and the beautifully detailed balustrading with invisible fixings.

A recent site visit to our Masterton project, where the results of meticulous detailing and craftsmanship are beginning to reveal themselves. Always exciting to see design intentions materialise so clearly on site.

One of the key architectural moments in this project is the link space between the two wings — a subtle transition zone where the use of continuous cladding creates a transparent threshold, reducing the perceptual divide between inside and out.

To strengthen the feeling of moving between the two distinct forms, we continued the vertical shiplap weatherboards from the exterior into the interior, using JSC Taxon thermally modified timber.

Within the link spaces, the lower ceilings and the warmer, darker-toned timbers provide a more intimate, compressed experience — a deliberate contrast to the lighter, larger volumes found within the main wings of the building.

It’s these quiet transitions that help shape how the home feels and functions.

www.spacearchitecture.co.nz