Dorset Street Flats

The Dorset Street Flats were designed in 1956, and are a very important part of New Zealands architectural and cultural story. Heritage NZ describes the flats as "amongst the most important domestic buildings built in New Zealand in the second half of the twentieth century. Miles Warren (b. 1929, later Sir Miles Warren) designed them as a young architect and with these flats he launched an architectural vocabulary that would come to distinguish the 'Christchurch School' of post-war architecture and also helped to shape modernist architectural design nationally for over two decades".    They are a pivotal piece of Sir Miles Warrens architectural journey, and the influence his work has had in shaping Aotearoa's vernacular. The Dorset Street Flats are debatably even more relevant now as an example of how to live well in small apartments. We were commissioned to repair the earthquake damage inflicted upon them in 2010/2011, upgrade them structurally in a way that respects the architectural language displayed in their design, and revitalise the Flats for modern living expectations, while respecting the heritage fabric and design philosophy of Sir Miles Warren.