Project Type: Residential
Awards: 2023 HOME Interior of the Year Finalist
Location: Mangawhai Heads, New Zealand
Style: Japandi (Japanese + Scandinavian)
Designed as a prefabricated modular structure, this perfectly understated bach seamlessly integrates cuboid forms with Japanese influences.
This modular treehouse has been created using the macrocarpa trees that were originally grown on the site. The proposed internal layering of light coloured woods create spaces that have a sense of lightness and warmth.
The bathrooms in particular have been inspired by Japanese onsens, reflective of the owner’s time spent living in Osaka, Japan. Operable screens on the exterior of the home allow the bathrooms to be completely open to the rural landscape or closed with light pouring down through the full size skylight above the shower space. The toilet is shielded from view so that the full sized opening of louvred windows can be open all day. The space is kept fairly minimal except a warm rose coloured pendant light by Monmouth Glass Studios.
Photographs no. 4 - 9 have been taken by by Simon Wilson. All other photographs have been taken by Jo Aitken.
https://homemagazine.nz/six-by-six/
Project Type: Residential
Location: Omaha Beach, New Zealand
The word ‘stealth’ comes to mind when approaching this home from a distance, but as one gets closer, the carefully detailed black timber screen slowly reveals its domestic interior and invites one in. A two storey timber bookshelf divides up the two gabled forms with sleeping quarters to the East and living quarters to the West. The proposed internal palette of white solid surfaces and natural oak create spaces that have a sense of lightness and warmth.
Photographs by Simon Wilson
Type: Residential Alteration (Significant)
Location: Mt Eden, Auckland
2023 HOME Interior of the Year Winner - Peoples Choice Award
2023 HOME Interior of the Year Finalist
The client wanted a carefully crafted interior that was sympathetic to the heritage exterior, of which their current interiors were not. Without changing the exterior footprint, we have managed to create the illusion of increased space by opening it up and connecting the living spaces to the outdoor spaces, with large steel joinery openings and rationalising the floor levels. A master suite was added within the roof space.
The kitchen and dining areas were opened up and brought down to the lounge level to create them to a newly created outdoor patio that helped make the petite home feel bigger. The windows within the realm of the kitchen were replaced and detailed to both fit in with the kitchen and the overall renovation.
For the interiors we worked closely with a wonderful client to create a simple and yet elegant palette that included herringbone oak flooring, carrara marble, solid walnut cabinetry, fluted glass and brass. Having a client who was detail oriented helped us create something that was meticulously detailed with an uncomplicated feel.
The home has been photographed by Simon Wilson.
Project type: Interior design
Status: Built
We carried out the Interior design for this project including selection of finishes, bathroom and kitchen design, curtains, bespoke cabinetry design, lighting design and furniture selection.
The architecture for this project was designed by Studio John Irving. The photographs have been taken by Simon Wilson.
Project Type: Residential home
Location: Ambury Farm, New Zealand
Status: Built
When a client, with Danish, Taiwanese & New Zealand roots approached us in Copenhagen, with a vision to create a family sanctuary in New Zealand in Auckland’s countryside, we knew this would be a project shaped as much by heritage as by landscape.
The brief was at once deceptively simple and deeply considered: a warm, light-filled home for a family of four — one that would honour Scandinavian sensibilities while putting down roots in the rolling farmland of New Zealand. What emerged is a residence that speaks quietly but confidently; a home that earns its stillness.
At its heart, a generous open-plan living space flows seamlessly toward the farm beyond, dissolving the boundary between interior life and the land. Tucked discreetly to one side, a private lounge offers retreat — its bespoke integrated projection system concealed with precision, ready to transform the space into an intimate cinema at a moment's notice.
The eastern wing is given entirely to rest. Each bedroom greets the morning sun, while the master suite — crowned by a generous gable form — frames sweeping views across the farm and out toward the harbour, a daily reminder of just how extraordinary the ordinary can be.
Perhaps what defines this project most is its collaboration. The husband’s Danish heritage manifested in an exceptional attention to craft — he had input into the detailing and personally hand-forged door hardware, stair fittings and handles, imbuing the home with a tactile honesty that no specification sheet could ever capture. This is the kind of collaboration we live for: one where the client becomes a true co-author of the work, and the result carries something irreplaceable.
Brought to life by an enthusiastic engineer and skilled building team, the home stands as a testament to what rigorous detailing can achieve. There is nothing accidental here. In a home this restrained, every junction, every sight line, every material choice bears the weight of intention — and it is precisely this invisible effort that gives the finished work its quiet power.
Type: Residential Alteration (Significant)
Location: Grey Lynn, Auckland
Status: Built
This project called for a rare kind of attentiveness — a home that could honour the character of its heritage neighbourhood, with its patina of old brick and industrial memory, while meeting the full ambitions of a contemporary life.
The existing home had turned its back on its site. Our work was fundamentally about reconnection — opening the plan to the landscape, dissolving the boundary between inside and out through generous steel-framed openings, and resolving the fragmented floor levels into something flowing and intuitive. New living spaces unfold around a newly created central courtyard, their generous ceiling heights and wrap-around glazing drawing in light from every angle. The courtyard itself becomes the quiet heart of the home — a moment of stillness around which daily life naturally gathers.
At the street, the original villa was carefully restored, its heritage presence returned with the respect it deserved. A new double garage was woven into the front facade with equal care, scaled and detailed so as to read as part of the whole — present, but never disruptive to the streetscape it inhabits.
Inside, the material palette tells a story of richness held in restraint. Oak flooring, Carrara marble, black steel joinery, reclaimed brick and touches of brass — each material chosen for its depth, its texture, its ability to age beautifully.
The ambition was for something meticulously crafted yet entirely unforced. Luxurious in the truest sense — not through abundance, but through the quality of light, material, and space that surrounds you at every turn.
Type: Residential
Size: 365 sqm / 4,000 sqft
Location: Tara Iti Golf Course, New Zealand
Status: Built
This new, single level courtyard home, is nestled next to Tara Iti Golf Course, surrounded with distant views of the sea to the North and East and rural views to the West and South. The exterior is clad in natural timber and makes minimal visual impact on the natural landscape. The square plan of the house wraps itself around a central courtyard that provides a sheltered haven with views through the house in all directions.
The home is finished in high quality natural materials throughout and has been created for an executive family to relax and entertain their family and friends after days of golf.
All architecture and Interior design (hard fit-out including bathrooms, kitchens, storage, finishes and curtains) by Atelier Aitken.
Soft furnishings / loose decor selected by others.
Type: Residential
Location: Tara Iti Golf Course, New Zealand
Nestled beside the seaside fairways of Tara Iti, this single-level residence turns its face inward — wrapping itself around a luscious courtyard that becomes the quiet heart of daily life. Beyond its walls, the sea stretches wide and the rural landscape rolls gently into the distance. Within them, there is stillness.
Coastal living is generous, but it is also demanding. The wind here is a constant presence — a reminder of the raw, elemental world just beyond the dunes. This home responds thoughtfully, drawing people toward a sheltered, sun-drenched spaces designed for the full texture of life: long lunches, slow evenings, the simple pleasure of being outside without the world pressing in.
Clad in natural timber, the exterior asks little of the eye. It settles into the dunescape with quiet confidence — neither announcing itself nor disappearing, but belonging, in the way that the best architecture always does.
Project Type: Residential
Location: Muriwai Beach, Auckland - New Zealand
Designed for two creative minds, this contemporary 180sqm residence strikes a rare balance between the raw energy of an industrial loft and the quiet, considered calm of a Scandinavian writer's retreat. The result is a home that feels both alive and deeply restful — a space that reflects the sensibility of the people who inhabit it.
The interior material palette is anchored by FSC-certified timber, chosen not only for its warmth and natural beauty, but for the integrity of its origins. Every material decision was made with care, ensuring that the home ages gracefully and treads lightly on the land it occupies.
The home is one that grows with its owners — a curated collection of quality furniture and design objects is gradually finding its place within the space, each piece chosen with intention and allowed to breathe within the architecture. Nothing is rushed. Nothing superfluous.
Set amongst a landscape of native planting, the house sits quietly within its environment, belonging rather than imposing. Expansive views to the sea draw the eye outward, connecting daily life to the natural world beyond — a reminder that the finest homes don't end at their walls.
Project Type: Residential
Location: Yamba Beach, NSW, Australia
This is a major renovation of a compact coastal home with impressive vistas of the East Coast in Australia.
The building envelope was fairly tight with limited window openings on either side and so we created a light filled entrance axis to create a central socialising space that also brought light into the bedrooms adjacent to the space.
The client wanted a white timber beach home that tied in closely with the existing traditional, gabled home at the base of the hill.
Type: Residential Alteration (Significant)
Location: Point Chevalier, Auckland
Completed in 2018, Atelier Aitken worked closely with architects Studio John Irving and the client Rickie Dee, owner of Fashion and Design store, Superette, to create a contemporary extension to this suburban bungalow. Although the increase in footprint is minimal, the scale of impact is significant.
Project Type: Residential
Location: Manly Beach, Sydney, NSW, Australia
This is a major renovation of a dated 2 level brick home in Manly, NSW. It has been rejuvenated to create a high quality family home with a Scandinavia meets Byron Bay feel. Completion due 2026.
Two versions of the master bedroom are shown - one a voluminous double height space with a beautiful light display and the other with a mezzanine floor above leading to a private yoga / relaxation space.
Project Type: Residential
Location: Omaha Beach, New Zealand
Status: Under construction, due for completion late 2026
Set within the shifting coastal dunes of Omaha, this existing family home has been thoughtfully reimagined to celebrate both its extraordinary setting and the rhythms of family life. With sweeping views across the bay as its constant companion, the design response sought to elevate what was once a tired structure into a place of clarity, warmth, and quiet architectural confidence.
At its core, the project is about transformation through precision rather than excess. The original home, while well-positioned, lacked a sense of arrival and connection—its entry understated, its outdoor living unresolved, and its overall expression in need of cohesion and vitality. In response, the design introduces a bold yet measured architectural intervention between the two existing gabled wings: a dramatic, double-height lobby conceived as a gallery-like space. This central volume becomes both the physical and emotional heart of the home—an uplifting threshold that frames the experience of arrival, draws in natural light, and provides a curated setting for the family's artwork.
The existing wings have been carefully upgraded internally, respecting their form while refining their materiality and spatial quality. These quieter interventions complement the central gesture, allowing the new lobby to act as a unifying element that brings clarity and purpose to the overall composition.
Equally significant is the creation of a generous, sheltered outdoor living space—an essential response to Omaha's coastal climate. Designed to offer refuge from the intensity of summer sun and the unpredictability of winter rain, this space extends the life of the home outward, enabling year-round gathering and connection. It is here, framed by architecture and open to the landscape, that the everyday moments of family life unfold—meals shared, conversations lingered over, and memories quietly made.
Together, these interventions transform the home into a place of balance: between shelter and openness, refinement and ease, architecture and landscape. The result is a renewed coastal dwelling that not only responds to its environment but enriches it—offering a timeless backdrop for family life to evolve and flourish.
Type: Residential Alteration
Location: West Sussex, United Kingdom
This compact home who’s owners relocated here from Copenhagen has been carefully recrafted to create a more light filled, scandinavian feel interior with high quality oak finishes and danish furniture.
A private courtyard has been created in front of the living area.
The A-Frame is our simplest and most cost effective prefabricated building. SImple and yet beautiful, it offers a wonderful and intimate home or bach.
When oriented correctly it also offers the opportunity to place several solar panels on the roof allowing the dwelling to be closer to self-sufficient in terms of power. It is a stunning little home to place in a scenic setting whether it be by the seaside or forest.
Type: Residential
Size: 400 sqm / 4,300sqft
Location: Breamtail, Mangawhai Heads, New Zealand
Status: Built
This new, single level courtyard home, sits atop a gentle hill on a coastal farm, surrounded in beautiful views of the sea to the North and East and rural views to the West and South. The exterior is clad in black stained timber and makes minimal visual impact on the natural landscape. The interior concrete walls that line the courtyard space provide a strong anchor for the home against the strong winds and weather it is exposed to at times. The square plan of the house wraps itself around a central courtyard that provides a sheltered haven with views through the house in all directions.
One of our favourite parts is designing bespoke furniture, both large and small, for our projects. This oak bookcase runs double height across two storeys with the stair treads cantilevering from it and supported by steel rods.
Photograph 2 and 3 by Simon Wilson
This project explores the design of modular, prefabricated low cost housing and how they can come together to create better amenity for the home owners as well as safer and more inclusive communal spaces.
The proposed terrace homes are on a 6x12m module and vary from 72 - 144sqm. The modular system creates very little construction waste. The repetitive and modular nature of prefabrication allows cost efficiency as well as speed, in comparison to traditional construction methods.
The vertical steel cladding to the exterior and timber sheet cladding to the interior gives these homes a high level of durability and low level of maintenance.
The A-Frame is our simplest and most cost effective prefabricated building. When oriented correctly it also offers the opportunity to place several solar panels on the roof, allowing the dwelling to be largely self-sufficient in terms of power.
Project Type: Residential Alteration
Location: Seattle, Washington
This is an interior remodel of a 2000 sq ft (200 sqm) apartment in Seattle. The main challenge for the design was to get enough natural light into the 60ft (20m) deep floor plan and of course meet a tight budget. This challenge was increased as we were not allowed to modify any external fenestration and locations of plumbing elements.
A series of sliding black framed glass partitions with recessed black timber blinds and black sheer curtains allow light and views through the whole depth of the apartment while providing various levels of privacy.
The material palette is kept fairly neutral and consists of white washed timber floors, matt white and black surfaces, carrara marble and dimmable lighting throughout.
Project type: Residential
Location: Snoqualmie, Washington - near Seattle
This was a simple mountain retreat for a Seattle based couple to come and relax in their weekends to enjoy back country hiking. We also carried out the renovation of their apartment in the city.
Project Type: Mixed Use Residential + Commercial
Client: Richie Hawtin
Location: Berlin, Germany
There is a 'ruinous' quality about this building that reflects the site's sombre history. It is the site of a former apartment building that was bombed during World War II.
The new building is massed as a 25 metre high concrete volume to tie in visually with the surrounding concrete apartments. The large ‘planted’ cut outs help to reduce the interior footprint and perceived scale of the building.
This project is a proposal for a mixed use development for a prominent electronic DJ based in Berlin.
This 1200sqm brief comprised of music studios, a gallery, offices, a guest apartment, a penthouse apartment and roof terrace.
The first floor has a large gallery space that the owner will open intermittently to the public. It is also to be used for events and dance parties.
