A year devoted to building a "dog box" on Wanganui's Bastia Hill has earned a group of young architects recognition from their peers.
The two-bedroom house, a project by three as-yet unregistered architects, was named the winning open work-in-progress entry at this year's Unbuilt Architecture Awards, which were held in Auckland on Thursday.
The judges were impressed by Patch Work Architecture's bold use of a verandah as the sole means of getting between rooms on the first floor and the property's "refreshing simplicity".
Last November, Ben Mitchell-Anyon, Sally Ogle and Tim Gittos, all aged 29, got to work on the award-winning building project, after purchasing "almost the cheapest piece of land Trade Me had to offer, found after a hunt of some months and various wild goose chases".
The three Victoria University graduates, who wanted to understand what it was like to build what they drew, were helped by Mr Gittos' partner, registered architect Caroline Robertson, 30.