Natural Wood Raised Garden - More DIY How To Projects

An instructable on how to make a raised garden using only natural products from your garden. This design was the product of clearing up a garden and not wanting to dump or burn the branches. We needed to build a raised garden and had no money - so we threw a little ingenuity at the problem

Revitalise Matiatia

The Matiatia competition was a focussed design attempt to revitalize and regenerate the entrance to Waiheke Island near Auckland, New Zealand. The small island harbour is surrounded by hills and native New Zealand bush. The local ecology and landmarks formed a concept around which to base a design. The urban design strategy followed the conceptual narrative of the life and death of the Pohutukawa tree, native to the area. The shallow roots of the Pohutukawa, anchored to the rocky shore sprung to form the new flowering curves of the carpark. This symbolic link between ancient and modern, dynamic and static continued into the conceptual underpinnings of a small township, informal market, and new ferry terminus in the area.

Gingerbread Castle Architecture?

The gingerbread castle was the product of wanting to create something that could be considered magical without the hassle of cooking or baking what-so-ever. The design was stitched together from children's dreams and modelled to the most stringent standards of deliciousness. The model features frosted mouldings, candy cane window surrounds with licorice mullions. Detailing and weatherproofing is made primarily with M&M's and Mike & Ikes.

Brougham Renovation

The Brougham Street renovation was always to be undertaken with the utmost care and devotion towards the existing 1900’s Corner Bay Villa style. Initial research showed that previous historical additions over various decades had been somewhat detrimental to the character of the “painted lady”. The most important part of the renovation was the high specification of the materials, integration of modern conveniences and reintegration of previously lost victorian features. Authentic sash windows were sourced to replace 1970’s windows, mouldings and skirtings were replicated and kitchens, bathrooms and services completely overhauled. Nothing has been spared in the rejuvenation of this historic villa which can now sit proudly on the crest of the Mt Victoria streetscape.

The dinghy post

The dinghy market stall was a product of recycling old abandoned dinghys and creating an informal market that would still fit into a local seaside context. The front of the dinghy would provide shelter for a merchants objects when closed and would seem to be a dinghy stored in the upright position. During market times the hull would pivot open, displaying all of the merchants wares, while providing a small amount of shelter.

Wellington's urban surgery

The congestion in one point in Wellington City, New Zealand, lead to competition for a new urban plan focussing mainly on the Basin Reserve area. Through the thorough analysis of the situation, it was decided to parody Wellington’s urban condition to the condition of a patient needing urgent heart bypass surgery. Although the analogy seems like comic relief for an overly serious topic, the end outcome was a well considered bypass highway strategy based on new technology the “Swirlgraft bypass”. The Swirlgraft strategy reformalised the existing services in the area and changed the blockage into a transpot hub, informal entrance to Wellington City from the airport and allowed new unobstructed city circulation to propogate.