Eight reasons to celebrate!
Canterbury Architecture
Awards 2026
Botanic is delighted to celebrate the winners of the 2026 Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Canterbury Architecture Awards. We are proud to have contributed to eight award-winning projects delivered by six different architectural practices, all recognised at the awards ceremony held at Christchurch Town Hall on 4 June 2026.
Working alongside passionate clients with talented architects and consultant teams is a privilege. These projects showcase the creativity, innovation and collaboration shaping Canterbury's built environment, while highlighting the diverse ways landscape architecture contributes to successful outcomes.
Congratulations to all award recipients, clients and project teams involved.
The Court Theatre
Category: Public Architecture
Architect: Haworth Tompkins and Athfield Architects in association
A landmark cultural project that returns Christchurch’s premier theatre company to the city centre following the 2011 earthquakes. The new theatre combines performance, rehearsal, education and production spaces within a highly sustainable structure, while making the creative process visible to the public and establishing a vibrant anchor for the Performing Arts Precinct.
Botanic designed the laneways and interactive public realm elements that extend the theatre experience into everyday city life. Informed by post-earthquake urban activation and Ngāi Tahu narratives, the precinct creates a distinctive sense of place within central Christchurch.
200 High Street
Category: Commercial Architecture
Architect: AW Architects
A striking mixed-use development occupying a prominent central-city corner on High Street. Defined by its faceted geometric façade and expressive glazing, the seven-storey building combines retail, commercial and residential uses, with generous terraces and a rooftop garden providing valuable green space and elevated views above the city.
Botanic provided our specialities for the rooftop garden plantings, combining shallow and deep soil landscapes with a mix of native and exotic species to create a bold and vibrant green retreat above the city.
Nott Office Space
Category: Commercial Architecture
Architect: Nott Architects
A carefully crafted workplace that reimagines a former office building as a warm, characterful studio environment. Through adaptive reuse, natural materials and refined detailing, the project creates a collaborative and creative workspace that reflects contemporary ways of working.
Botanic designed the internal courtyard garden at the heart of the studio, establishing a native beech forest that provides a lush, restorative retreat for the Nott team.
Lincoln High School
Te Kura Tuarua o Waihora -
Wai Tūhura Science Block
Category: Education
Architect: Athfield Architects
A contemporary learning facility that places science education at the heart of the school’s evolving campus. Specialist laboratories, collaborative learning spaces and informal breakout areas support a range of teaching styles, while a hybrid timber and steel structure creates a warm, sustainable environment that encourages curiosity, discovery and connection.
Botanic developed the central courtyard, extending learning beyond the classroom through a fully native planting palette inspired by local ecosystems. Forty-one plant species create a diverse living landscape for exploration and discovery, while planted swales filter stormwater from surrounding roofs and pavements. At the centre, tiered decking provides flexible space for outdoor learning, socialising and school events.
Christchurch Boys' High School Main Block
Category: Heritage
Architect: Athfield Architects with Paul Cummack Conservation and Clare Kelly Heritage Architect in association
A major heritage conservation and seismic strengthening project that carefully restores the school's iconic Main Block while adapting it for contemporary educational use. Widely regarded as an exemplar of post-earthquake heritage rehabilitation, the project balances authenticity, resilience, and functionality within a nationally significant school building.
Botanic designed the landscape surrounding the heritage building and Avon / Ōtākaro River, creating spaces for learning, socialising and connection with nature. The landscape incorporates significant heritage trees, including specimens dating back to the Deans family's earliest settlement of Christchurch.
Oxford Terrace Baptist Church Stage 2
Category: Housing – Multi Unit
Architect: Andrew Barrie Lab
A thoughtful mixed-use housing and community development that extends the church’s post-earthquake vision of a contemporary urban monastery in central Christchurch. The project comprises 11 apartments, offices for social service organisations, and shared community facilities arranged around a cloister garden, fostering affordability, social wellbeing, and a strong sense of community.
Botanic collaboratively created the landscape framework for the complex, balancing communal and private garden spaces that support daily life and community interaction. Design of Stage 3 is now underway, which will complete the vision for the cloister garden.
Hillsborough Valley House
Category: Housing
Architect: Tim Dewar Architect
A finely crafted hillside residence that responds sensitively to its Port Hills setting, balancing privacy, sunlight, and expansive valley views. Thoughtfully sited and detailed, the home creates a strong connection between interior living spaces and the surrounding landscape while sitting comfortably within its challenging hill environment.
Botanic designed a garden that anchors the house within its sloping hillside setting, combining native forest planting with a meadow garden of grasses and flowering perennials. The landscape strengthens the connection between architecture and site while enhancing seasonal interest and biodiversity.
Frankie’s House
Category: Housing
Architect: Warren and Mahoney
An elegant family home shaped by its setting and the rhythms of daily life. Strong connections to sunlight, landscape and outdoor living are paired with a simple architectural form and carefully considered planning to create warm, flexible spaces for contemporary family living.
Botanic developed landscape concepts for the property, including a softened interface between the home and street that enhances privacy, amenity and connection to the surrounding neighbourhood.
These awards highlight the strength of design leadership in Canterbury and the value of integrated collaboration across disciplines. Botanic is proud to have contributed to these projects and to the creation of places that enrich communities, strengthen connections to landscape, and enhance everyday life throughout the region.
