One to watch

Auckland-based design-andarchitect duo Katrina Keshaw and Xuan McArthur Nguyen.

Keshaw McArthur

You established your practice in 2014. What do you do and why do you do it? We are engaged in the production of buildings, interiors, landscapes and furniture. Through a process of experimentation, spontaneity and suggestion, we design work that embodies a meaningful sense of place and provides inspiration for its inhabitants. What are you working on? Residential architecture and small-scale projects, such as a workspace for Katie Lockhart Studio. We’ve just finished a competition proposal for a Lake Wakatipu home with Keiji Ashizawa Design in Tokyo and Jared Lockhart.

A couple of recently completed projects have an approach to exteriors that we like to call ‘structured landscape’. We use strong, elemental, hard landscaping to define and heighten soft landscaping within the design. This creates a place that’s appropriate to suburban and innercity living – simple, low-maintenance, versatile and that fits in with density. We are also enjoying finishing ‘Valley’ house, an Auckland home we designed in its entirety – from landscaping, architecture and interiors through to finer elements such as custom doors, handles, kitchen shelves and stone vanities. What do you strive to achieve in your work? Harmony, longevity and presence are core principals in our practice. Inherent to our thinking is that a building is a vessel, a container of movement. The relationship to its inhabitants is its essence. It should not recede nor speak too loudly. For us, this philosophy has the ability to extend from the architecture, through the interiors and into furniture and bespoke design elements. What shapes your design approach?

We enjoy a non-prescribed design process, whereby each project is approached with openness and an opportunity to explore. This allows us to draw inspiration from a wide range of fields. We work on projects together, which we find a rewarding way to generate and critique ideas, as well as to know when we’ve arrived at a point at which we are happy to put the pencil down.

Keshaw McArthur keshawmcarthur.com

Below— A refined palette and natural light create tranquility at ‘Valley’ house.

Above— A 4.2-metre cantilevered hearth provides a place to sit around a fire at ‘Valley’ house in Auckland.

Left— Xuan McArthur Nguyen and Katrina Keshaw met while studying architecture at the University of Auckland. McArthur grew up between the Kapiti Coast and Vietnam and Keshaw in West Auckland, where their studio is located.