Carr House

The challenge for Christchurch architect, Thom Craig, has always been to use the most minimal of lines, no matter how complex the brief; "the simplest of statements that enables layman to get into the spirit of the house without being intimidated, or having to play esoteric games".

As an architect known for his iconic, sculptural and challenging domestic designs - designs that both terrify and delight - Craig himself relishes an exercise that extends three-dimensional spatial relationships to their utmost. In the Carr house, in Fendalton, Christchurch, he has taken a simple brief and an unremarkable budget and created a rather remarkable designs that stands, jewel-like, amidst its established, white bungalow neighbours. Its tiny footprint belies its spaciousness; its form arises from a series of squares, circles and triangles; and there is a complexity of articulation and structural detail which reads as a stunning simplicity.

- Extract from, Architecture New Zealand magazine (1996)
- Written by Adrienne Rewi