Architects for Coastal, Rural and Holiday Homes in Nelson, Tasman, Golden Bay, Marlborough.
Few parts of New Zealand offer this combination — remarkable coastline, a wine region of international standing, landscapes that shift from beach to bush to high country within an hour. It’s a part of the world people choose deliberately, and the homes here should reflect that.
Whether you’re planning a coastal retreat, a rural homestead, or a permanent home in a place you love, the design decisions that matter most are the ones made early — about how a home sits in its landscape, how it performs through every season, and how it feels to actually live in day after day.
Chaplin Crooks Architects is a Christchurch-based practice designing thoughtful residential homes across the South Island. Our work in the region — from a coastal retreat above Tata Beach to a vineyard home currently in concept design in Marlborough — reflects the approach we bring to every project: homes that sit comfortably in their landscape, and are effortless to be in.
The home you’re imagining
Wake to native birds in the surrounding bush. End the day watching the sun drop over Golden Bay from a sheltered deck, or sit with a glass of local wine as the light fades over the vines. Come inside to a room that’s warm without effort, that frames the view exactly right, that feels like it’s always been there.
That quality comes from thinking carefully about how a home will actually be lived in, long before anything is built. Where the deck sits in relation to the afternoon sun. How the living spaces are oriented so they’re warm in the morning and comfortable in summer. Where the shelter comes from so outdoor areas are genuinely usable, not just beautiful on a still day. Which materials will develop character over decades rather than demand attention.
These are the decisions that determine whether a home is everything you hoped for, or subtly frustrating in ways that are expensive to fix. Getting them right the first time is what good design delivers — and it’s what the best homes in this region have in common.
Tata Beach House — coastal design in Golden Bay
The site above Tata Beach is everything Golden Bay promises and everything it demands: steep, bush-clad, remote, and exposed to the particular challenges of building close to the coast. Salt-laden air, difficult slope construction, and limited contractor access all shaped the design process from the beginning — as did the opportunity to create something genuinely special in one of the South Island’s most memorable settings.
The house sits quietly in the hillside — dark-clad, simple in form, warm inside. A pole-platform structure touches the land lightly, working with the steep terrain rather than against it. Corten balconies and screens project into the canopy as a series of outdoor rooms — some open to the full Golden Bay panorama, others nestled into the bush for shelter and shade — giving the house a natural rhythm between exposure and retreat. Materials throughout are chosen for the coastal environment: precoated steel and Corten weather without maintenance, timber surfaces inside bring warmth and calm.
A single generous picture window frames the Golden Bay view — chosen over a glass facade because a well-placed window connects you to a landscape more intimately than a wall of glass, and performs better across every season.
Shortlisted in the 2026 NZIA Nelson/Marlborough Architecture Awards. View the project →
Marlborough Vineyard House — concept design
A different setting, a different brief — but the same underlying questions. This Marlborough vineyard property is currently in concept design: a renovation that takes a 1990s house with strong bones and transforms it into something worthy of its extraordinary site. The existing steep roof pitch becomes the centrepiece of a new, light-filled living space with a high-quality interior fitout to match.
Marlborough’s climate is particular — intense summer sun, exposed conditions, sharp frosts in winter — and those conditions shape every decision about orientation, shade, shelter and materiality. The design creates generous outdoor living areas that are genuinely comfortable in the region’s heat, with shelter from the wind that comes with an open outlook toward the Wither Hills.
The result is a home that feels rooted in its landscape and completely at ease in it.
Working with us from a distance
We’re based in Christchurch. Our clients planning homes in Nelson, Tasman, Golden Bay and Marlborough come from all over — some are locals who want a practice with a particular approach, others are Christchurch-based clients building a retreat in a place they love. Distance has never been a barrier.
The early stages of any project — brief, design, refinement — are largely collaborative by nature regardless of where everyone is based. We use 3D models and animations that clients can share with family and walk through on screen, so design decisions are made with confidence rather than guesswork.
Out of town clients working with us from three hours away described their experience this way:
“The animation was a game changer for me — such an incredible way to bring the vision to life prior to any hammer hitting nails.” – Olivia and Mike Pavletich, Walnut Cottage
And on distance itself:
“The distance was not an issue. What couldn’t be discussed or solved via a site visit was sorted over a phone call, photos, videos and direct communication with our builder. When there is a will there is a way — overall we found the process very easy.”
We make site visits at the stages that matter. We produce thorough documentation so local builders have clear drawings to work from. We liaise with local surveyors, engineers and council planning teams as a matter of course — including the specific consenting requirements that apply across Tasman, Marlborough and Golden Bay. Your job is to enjoy the process of watching your home take shape. Ours is to make sure every decision that gets you there is well-made.
→ Read more about how we work: Our Process
Who this is for
This page tends to resonate with people who’ve had the idea for a while — a site they love, a house they’ve been imagining, a project they’re finally ready to pursue seriously. They’re not necessarily looking for the nearest architect. They’re looking for the right one: a practice that will listen carefully, design something specific to their place, and see the project through with the same care it started with.
If that sounds like you — whether you’re local to the region or planning a retreat from further afield — we’d be glad to talk.
Book a free consultation — or call us for an initial conversation about your site and brief.
Or Start Here to find the best project path for your project.
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