About Crosson Architects

Crosson Architects is an Auckland based architectural practice with an exceptional portfolio of work.

Past projects include residential, commercial, institutional, masterplanning and urban design developments. Ken Crosson and his team have won numerous architectural awards locally and internationally with work being regularly published here and around the world.

Our commitment to providing a superior service to our clients is extended with membership in Designgroup New Zealand, enabling larger scale projects to be undertaken, drawing on a range of resources and expertise from partnering practices. We strive for the highest standards of client service, design and documentation. At the completion of each project, the aim is to have achieved a building that is beyond the client's expectations. We believe good design will produce sustainable, functional and dramatic spaces and buildings that have an enduring quality over time.

Each project is analysed for its special requirements and opportunities: the end result being not a preconceived idea, but a combination of the client's requirements and desires, a response to the site and the budget. Critical consideration is given to the project's specific environmental and historical context, and to the appropriate use of materials and construction methods.

At the heart of the process is the collaboration between the client and the architect. At Crosson Architects we create – and the process is vigorous and robust, rich and rewarding. Amongst other elements, we consider the physical, psychological and spiritual – achieving an outcome that is unique and life-enhancing.

We would love to offer you the opportunity to realise your dream with Ken and the team at Crosson Architects.

Design Team

Ken Crosson, the Director of the practice with over 30 years experience in Architecture both in NZ and abroad, emphasise the importance of listening to client's needs. Backed by a multi-cultural and talented team of individuals, their backgrounds and interests are diverse and yet their communication expertise allows them to work in a cohesive and efficient manner to support the design output. The practice has an extensive depth of experience built up over years of past projects and working together as a team.

Awards

2016

NZIA Local Award 2016
Auckland
The Orange (Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects)

NZIA Local Award 2016
Waikato Bay of Plenty
Bach Bach

NZIA Local Award 2016
Wellington
Nohoroa House

2015

NZIA Architecture Award 2015
National
Red House

NZIA Local Award 2015
Auckland
Red House

Home Magazine Home of the Year Award 2015
Finalist
Red House

2014

Architizer A+ Awards
Single Family Home XS / Winner
Hut on Sleds

2013

Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards
Spaces / Finalist
Hut on Sleds

NZIA New Zealand Award 2013
National
Hut on Sleds

2012

World Architecture News Awards 2012
Residential Interiors / Shortlisted
Hut on Sleds

World Architecture News Awards 2012
House of the Year / Top 6 Houses of the World 2012
Hut on Sleds

AAA Cavalier Bremworth Unbuilt Architecture Awards
Work in Progress – Runner up
Red House

Korean Institute of Architects Top 100 International Architects Award 2012
Top 100
Hut on Sleds

Urbis (Australasia) Best Bathrooms 2012
Winner
Hut on Sleds

World Architecture Festival House of the Year Award 2012
Shortlisted
Hut on Sleds

Cavalier Bremworth Award 2012
Work in-progress
West Coast House

NZ Wood Timber Design Award 2012
Winner
Hut on Sleds

NZIA Local Award 2012
Waikato Bay of Plenty
Hut on Sleds

Architectural Review (London) House of the year Award 2012
Commendation
Hut on Sleds

Home & Entertaining Home of the Year 2012
Finalist
Hut on Sleds

NZIA New Zealand Award 2012
National
Tutukaka House

2011

NZIA Local Award 2011
Waikato Bay of Plenty
Cooks Beach House

NZIA Local Award 2011
Auckland Northland
Tutukaka House

Trans Tasman Timber Design Awards 2011
1 of 4 Finalists
Whangapoua Beach House

2010

World Architecture News Awards 2010
House of the Year / Top 6 Houses of the World 2010
Coromandel Bach

NZIA Local Award 2010
Waikato / Bay of Plenty
Whangapoua Beach House

NZ Wood 2010
Award for Residential Architectural Excellence
Whangapoua Beach House

NZIA Local Award 2011
Hawkes Bay
Waimarama House

2009

NZIA Local Award 2009
Waikato / Bay of Plenty
Opito Bay House

2008

Auckland Architecture Association Design Awards 2008
Finalist
NZ Steel Visitor Centre

NZIA Local Award 2008
Waikato / Bay of Plenty
Kuaotunu House

NZIA Local Award 2008
Auckland
Kaipara House

2007

Housing New Zealand NZIA Local 2007
Award for Architecture
Talbot Park Social Housing

2006

World Architecture News Finalist
Top 6 Houses worldwide 2006
Coromandel Bach

2005

NZ Home & Entertaining
Home of the Decade Winner 1996 – 2005
Coromandel Bach

NZIA Resene Award 2005
Award for Architecture
Tuki Tuki Cottage

NZIA Local Award 2005
Waikato / Bay of Plenty
Taupo House

NZIA Local Award 2005
Waikato / Bay of Plenty
Raglan House

NZIA Resene Award 2005
Award for Architecture
Taupo House

2004

NZIA Award 2004
Supreme New Zealand Award for Architecture 2004
Coromandel Bach

2003

NZIA Local Award 2003
Waikato / Bay of Plenty
Coromandel Bach

Origin Timber Design Award 2003
Architectural Excellence
Coromandel Bach

NZ Home & Entertaining
Home of the Year Winner 2003
Coromandel Bach

NZ Home & Entertaining
Home of the Year finalist 2003
Parnell House

NZIA Local Award 2003
Auckland
Herne Bay House

2002

NZIA Resene Award 2002
Award for Architecture
Whangamata House

Waitemata Waterfront Urban Design Scheme
Stage 1 Finalist
Britomart Competition

2001

NZIA Resene Award 2001
Award for Architecture
Wilson House

Ken Crosson

Described as an ‘architectural humanist’, Ken’s starting point in architecture is an intuitive response to site, informed by cultural and contextual references relevant to client, site and community. This approach generates a rich and diverse palette of texture and materiality, while the clarity of form and structure reveals the strength of the underlying ideas.

Ken studied in Auckland, and apart from a period living and working in London as a young graduate has been based in the city, running projects throughout New Zealand. He cites the architecture of Claude Megson – specifically Megson’s complex spaces and ‘spaces for occasions’ – as a pivotal influence. Central to Ken’s design process are the ideas of exploration – allowing the design to evolve through constant re-evaluation; and appropriateness – maintaining the underpinning reference to site and context.

The exceptional design portfolio Ken has developed has granted him recognition within the profession, with awards including NZ Home magazine Home of the Year in 2003 and Home of the Decade in 2006. In 2012 he was a finalist in the World Architecture Awards for the project ‘Hut on Sleds’. His designs have twice been listed by World Architecture News among the Six Best Houses in the World – with awards in 2006 for the ‘Coromandel Bach’ and in 2013 for the ‘Hut on Sleds’.

In 1997 Ken was awarded a Fellowship of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and continues to be actively involved in the development of the profession, in undergraduate education, institute awards and registration assessment. He has a passion for quality urban design and has been an active participant in the NZIA Urban Issues Group.

Services

Architectural DesignResidentialCommercialMasterplanUrban Design