Church-site social housing named NZ's Best House

A low-cost social housing project has taken top honours at a major architecture awards programme, in a result that surprised even its designer, University of Auckland Professor Andrew Barrie.

"The houses that typically get chosen for these kinds of things are multi-million dollar, beautifully crafted houses on coastal sites. Inner city social housing is really out of the run of play," he says.

The project for Oxford Terrace Baptist Church was named Best House Aotearoa for 2026 by Here, one of New Zealand's highest profile architecture magazines.

The project comprises 11 units and is home to a diverse community of students, church staff, former refugees and migrants, and people from the social housing register. Around 50 people live on the site, including 17 children.

It also includes social service agency offices and sits beside a church complex completed in 2018.  

While churches have long been providers of housing, this project takes the extra step of creating a space that encompasses all aspects of daily life. The entire development is arranged around a central cloister with a vegetable garden, orchard and shared amenities, encouraging interaction among residents, staff and other users.

"The thing that seems to have charmed them is that social housing can be so good. It’s very deliberately tied around creating a community," says Barrie.

The project is community-funded by the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church.

Chris Chamberlain, the former Senior Pastor, and now National Leader of Baptist Churches of New Zealand, says it represents his community's response to the housing crisis.

"It was deeply challenging, it was hard to finance, it took longer than we thought - and it was worth it," he says.

"Good design should not be the preserve of only high-end projects. A warm, safe, joyous home should be the norm in a country like ours."  

Here editor Simon Farrell-Green praised the elements of the development that weren't "strictly necessary": enclosed private gardens, exposed concrete ceilings, birch-ply cabinetry, and a cloister running around a generous open courtyard, giving residents shelter and a communal space to meet neighbours.

"Some would argue people in community housing don't care about or need such touches. I'd argue the opposite – spaces like this offer a sense of dignity that tells people they are worthy of our care," he says.

The long-running Oxford Terrace Baptist Church project began as a design course for fourth-year architecture students at Te Pare | School of Architecture and Planning. The work was later exhibited at Auckland Art Gallery as part of the 2013 Auckland Triennial.

Barrie is now designing the third stage of the development, which will add more housing and community spaces. Construction is due to begin in 2027.