Athfield Architects

The firm Athfield Architects was established in 1968 by Sir Ian Athfield (1940-2015) and expanded to include directors Ian Dickson, in 1969, and Graeme Boucher, in 1970. Clare Athfield (neé Cookson) officially joined the practice as an interior designer in 1971, adapting her training as an artist.

Often portrayed as the enfant terrible of New Zealand architecture, friend and colleague Ross Brown, celebrated the announcement of Sir Ian’s NZIA Gold Medal award in 2004 by recounting the number of times Ian had fallen on site, equating this to Sir Ian’s love of “living (or being) on the edge.” Ross went on to describe Athfield House and Office as the "Amritsar Street house [which] started with a small 2-storey rectangular concrete box in 1967 (the year [Ross] started work with Ath as it happened)" as the "modest beginning to the 'takeover' of the whole suburb of Khandallah [Sir Ian] ultimately had in mind. The precipitous border along the vertical cliffs abutting Lambton Harbour was an unlikely place to start his mission but working in from this (steep) edge was exactly the way to take over by stealth."

Described by David Mitchell as the 'White Palace on the Bluff,' the Amristar House is familiar to most Wellingtonians as the continuously built prototype of many of Sir Ian’s ideas about architecture. From early renegade projects (such as the Onslow Arms) Sir Ian’s practice grew to great influence through his designs for the Wellington Central Library (1989), Wellington Waterfront (1986) and Te Ngākau Civic Square (1987). The firm of Athfield Architects has had a seminal influence on the development of the city of Wellington and of New Zealand architecture nationally.

The firm’s work has been profiled by architectural historian Julia Gatley in 'Athfield Architects’, a book and exhibition hosted by the City Gallery Wellington (2012). Sir Ian was made a Knight Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to architecture in 2015, shortly before he passed away.

The firm continues now led by 11 Principals including Sir Ian’s son, Zac Athfield.

See also:

• ‘Portraits of Ath’, ArchitectureNow, 20 Jan 2015
• ‘Ian Athfield’, Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
• ‘Athfield on The Elegant Shed’, interview with David Mitchell
• 'Athfield Architects: People and Place,' City Gallery Wellington, 23 June–7 October 2012
• Julia Gatley, ‘Athfield Architects’ (Auckland University Press, 2012)
• Ian Athfield, wikipedia page
• Athfield Architects, official website