Arête Architects Ltd.

Arête Architects Ltd. Arête was founded to create design-led, high-quality architecture that enhances the built environment and the experiences people have with it.

Sometimes the most sustainable building is the one already standing.This new commercial fit-out forms part of the next c...
20/08/2026

Sometimes the most sustainable building is the one already standing.

This new commercial fit-out forms part of the next chapter for a prominent inner-city building. Substantial earthquake strengthening allows the existing structure to be retained, and the building to be reoccupied rather than replaced.

Internally, the design continues with that approach. Exposed structure, natural light, timber detailing and soft tones create a modern workplace that balances formality, functionality and a restrained sustainable palette.

Design through details.At Aster Café, the larger concept is carried through the smallest moments. The rounded edges, the...
14/08/2026

Design through details.

At Aster Café, the larger concept is carried through the smallest moments. The rounded edges, the splashes of colour, the organic yet structured nature. All of these details contribute to the floral design concept.

Rather than treating furniture and fit-out as objects placed within the architecture, we designed them as contributing part of it.

Aster , Dunedin Botanic Garden.
📸 Photography by biddi rowley
🛠️ Joinery by WoodQuarter Limited

Architecture doesn’t always need to dominate a landscape. Sometimes its greatest strength is its ability to quietly belo...
07/07/2026

Architecture doesn’t always need to dominate a landscape. Sometimes its greatest strength is its ability to quietly belong.

Crafted from macrocarpa, the Titoki Pool House is designed to weather gracefully, its cladding and exposed structure slowly silvering over time until it feels as though it has always existed amongst the surrounding trees. Heavy timber framing, honest detailing and simple materials celebrate the act of making while allowing the building to age with dignity.

Large operable panels transform the pavilion throughout the day. Closed, they provide shelter, privacy and secure storage. Open, they dissolve the boundary between building, deck and pool, creating an adaptable place for cooking, gathering, relaxing and long summer afternoons. A simple structure that changes with the rhythm of its use.

A building designed not simply to withstand time, but to become more beautiful because of it.

🔨 Sole Landscapes - Registered Master Landscapers
📸 Bonny Beattie

When I was a kid, a trip to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens usually meant feeding the ducks, a run around the playground, an...
03/06/2026

When I was a kid, a trip to the Dunedin Botanic Gardens usually meant feeding the ducks, a run around the playground, and finishing up at the old Croque-O-Dile Café. Looking back, it was probably my first ever café experience.

Thirty years later, I found myself designing a new café in the very same spot. It was a rare opportunity to work on a place I knew so well and had such a strong connection to growing up.

Rather than recreate what was there before, we wanted to give the Gardens something fresh, welcoming and full of life — a place where people can meet, gather, celebrate, and create memories of their own.

is a little bit of nostalgia, a little bit of fun, and the beginning of a new chapter for one of Dunedin’s most loved places.

Aster. A star in the garden.

Now open at the Dunedin Botanic Gardens.

📸

This Mount Victoria, Wellington, renovation carefully balances heritage and contemporary living within the suburb’s hist...
29/05/2026

This Mount Victoria, Wellington, renovation carefully balances heritage and contemporary living within the suburb’s historic character overlay. The design respects the scale, rhythm, and identity of the existing villa while introducing a contemporary addition that feels connected rather than competing.

Added volume and lifted ceilings create generous new living spaces, drawing light deep into the home and opening it to air, warmth, and connection. High-level glazing, sculpted openings, and layered indoor–outdoor spaces bring new character and adaptability to the villa — proving that heritage homes can evolve to support modern inner-city living while remaining grounded in the qualities that make them special.

Under construction and due for completion in 2026.

Wellington is shaped by wind, hills, and a tradition of modest living. Its housing is small in scale, grounded in simple...
11/05/2026

Wellington is shaped by wind, hills, and a tradition of modest living. Its housing is small in scale, grounded in simple forms, and constructed from honest materials that weather and age with the land.

Buildings step with the hillside, expressing restraint and clarity rather than presence, and forming a streetscape that feels collected over time rather than composed in a single moment.

This project draws from that lineage. Informed by the workingman’s cottages and early villas of the suburb, the architecture prioritises proportion, rhythm, and durability,
allowing material, light, and shadow to do the work of expression.

Designed for long-term living and future generations, the proposal seeks to belong to Brooklyn’s hillside fabric —
quiet in its making, responsive to climate, and shaped by place rather than trend.

Charlotte Townhouses. On the drawing board now.

Set against the raw drama of the Southern Alps, Spur Ridge Rise is shaped by the land it sits on. The form steps, folds,...
04/05/2026

Set against the raw drama of the Southern Alps, Spur Ridge Rise is shaped by the land it sits on. The form steps, folds, and anchors into the slope—hugging the terrain rather than fighting it. Rooflines track the ridgeline, volumes shift with the gradient, and the building settles low into the site to reduce its presence against the mountainous backdrop.

Inside, that response softens. Warm timber linings, built-in moments, and intimate thresholds create a home that feels grounded and protective. Spaces compress and expand as you move through them—framing views out while holding a sense of shelter within. It’s a house of contrast: robust and embedded externally, rich and calm internally.

Architecture here isn’t imposed—it’s negotiated. A direct response to land, climate, and the rhythm of the slope.

Onsite now!

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17 Wharf Street
Dunedin
9011

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Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 4pm

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