High on the hills facing Taiaroa Heads at the entrance to Otago Harbour, this striking home by Richard Wilden is designed to defy the elements.

Seamless living and ‘a really cool place to hang out’, is how Noel Jessop describes this recently finished home he designed for friends of 20 years.

An esteemed panel of architectural practitioners and experts has revealed small homes are the stand out entries as the 2017 ADNZ | Resene Architectural Design Awards season begins.

Beauty and meaning. These are the two attributes that new ADNZ awards judge Melanda Slemint will be looking for when she joins the panel to assess 100 of the best commercial and residential architectural designs in the country this week.