Double win for Dowse Art Museum at architecture awards

Double win for Dowse Art Museum at architecture awards

Hutt City and The Dowse Art Museum have won three awards in this year’s Wellington Architecture Awards.

Dowse Square on Laings Road won in the Planning and Urban Design category and was praised as a space around which civic activities can be planned. Athfield Architects designed Dowse Square, which the judges singled out as a project that, “successfully knits together spaces between three disparate buildings and creates a place that combines art, outdoor seating and a wetland” which, the jury said, “already feels well-established”.

The new foyer of The Dowse, designed by Mary Daish Architect, was cited as being a “delightful and comfortable” retail zone flexible enough to accommodate after-hours functions. The space used recycled materials from the existing fit-out.

“Dowse Square and the new foyer are flexible and complimentary spaces for the museum and its visitors, said Courtney Johnston, Director of The Dowse Art Museum.

“Dowse Square gives us the perfect venue for large scale community events like Big Day Dowse while the foyer is flexible enough to house our shop, MINE, by day and adapt to host events from exhibition openings to birthday parties in the evening.”

Bevin + Slessor Architects’ design of the Eastbourne Public Toilets was also a winner at the Awards, which were announced in Wellington on the evening of Thursday 7 November. The Awards are organised by the New Zealand Institute of Architects.

ENDS

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