SANNZ - The Student Architecture Network of New Zealand

30/09/2026

An inspiring evening highlighting Wellington’s architecture community!

Starting with Open Studios, where local practices opened their doors to share their creative processes, followed by the Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZIA Emerge 🌟 x SANNZ social mixer, Checkmate, bringing students and industry professionals together.

Thank you to all the participating studios and attendees who made these events a success!

18/09/2026

Ever wanted to go behind the scenes of an architecture studio to find out what architects do?

Friday 25th of September, 3:00-5:30pm, architecture studios across Te Whanganui-a-Tara are opening their doors for Open Studios - offering a rare chance to step inside, meet architects, see where ideas take shape, and discover how architecture is designed and delivered.

Take a self-guided tour around the architectural studios of Wellington. See the spaces where creativity takes place and chat to the architects that reside there. No need to register, just show up! Come curious, ask questions, and meet the people behind the projects.

OR join SANNZ for a walking bus tour, beginning at the VUW Te Aro campus atrium at 2:45pm.

Open Studios
Friday 25th of September, 3:00-5:30pm
(+SANNZ walking bus 2:45pm @ VUW Te Aro campus atrium)
Wellington Central

See you there!

18/09/2026

Following Open Studios is an Emerge x SANNZ social mixer, Checkmate, bringing architecture students and a range of industry professionals from Wellington based studios together in one space. Every great career starts with the right move in one night.

Register for Checkmate through the link below - limited spaces available!

CHECKMATE:
Friday 25th of September, 5:30pm
JASMAX, Level 3, 126 Lambton Quay
Registration: https://events.humanitix.com/emerge-x-sannz-checkmate

Emerge is also offering Festival of Architecture merch bundles of $35, including a tote bag, poster, a special prize draw, and more. Simply select the item at checkout from the registration link above.

Join us, and see you there!

10/09/2026

What is the Auckland you carry with you, and the one you hope to see?

As part of the Aotearoa Festival of Architecture in Auckland with the NZIA, SANNZ is inviting you to join us for Mapping Memories, an afternoon of drawing, collage, conversation, and collective imagination.

Bring a memory you love, a place you miss, somewhere you keep coming back to, or even somewhere you wish existed. Add it to the map through drawing and collage, respond to what others have made, and watch as hundreds of small ideas begin to overlap into something completely new.

There’s no right way to take part and no drawing experience needed. Bring your favourite pens, pencils or collage bits if you like, or just use ours. Come along, make something, meet some people, and leave a little piece of your Auckland behind.

📍 Freyberg Place / Takutai Square
📅 20 September

Come help us imagine a city made from our collective memories! 💌🗺️

13/08/2026

Inside Practice with Studio Pacific Architecture

It was an incredible night of networking and project walkthroughs with the team about what architectural practice actually looks like beyond the studio desk.

From deep dives into projects of all scales and typologies to open conversation with practicing architects, hopefully you walked away with plenty of inspiration (and a few new industry connections).

A huge thank you to Studio Pacific for hosting us and sharing their space, process, and expertise with the next generation of NZ design.

07/08/2026

Meet our 24hr comp judges! 👀

Elim Hu studied at the University of Auckland, where her work centred on humanity, care, and community. Her thesis, “The Care We Sow, The Children They Know,” was a finalist in the 2025 Student Design Awards, while her third-year project, “Dwelling in the Wrath of Nature: A Tale of Building Resilience in the Face of Climatic Adversity,” won a Gold Award at the Best Awards.

Elim now works as an Architectural Graduate in practice.

07/08/2026

Meet our 24hr comp judges! 👀

Evana Chan 陳卓彥 (She/Her)
Evana Chan studied at the University of Auckland, during which she worked on fabrication and tutoring. Having lived in both Hong Kong SAR and Aotearoa, her bicultural whakapapa embeds both the fast and slow into her creative practice. Evana is interested in architecture as an anthropological phenomena. Specifically, gatherings that are both informed by the built monument they reside within, yet also moves beyond and becomes the monument itself.
She now works in reality capture and BIM management, and is furthering her practice with radical education like Pre:Fab School and the Weaving ASAC Conference.

07/08/2026

Meet our 24hr comp judge! 👀

Pip Newman (Pakeha, Italian by adoption)

After graduating in Architecture from the University of Auckland, Pip worked with Rewi Thompson for several years before moving to explore overseas experiences. Having lived and worked in Europe for 29 years, the layers of encounter with Italian culture, in particular, informed her worldview and architectural understanding. Since returning to Aotearoa in 2017, Pip has been involved in teaching spatial and architectural design at AUT, Unitec and the University of Auckland. Personal fascinations are oriented toward the analogue, the haptic, the relational, and an architecture of ‘small gestures’.

07/08/2026

Meet our 24hr comp judges! 👀

Phil Smith is the co-founder and Design Director of Smith Architects, an Auckland-based practice creating thoughtful, human-centred architecture grounded in place, culture and environmental performance. Since establishing the practice in 2007, Phil has led award-winning work across education, housing, community and bespoke residential projects. He is passionate about design that is imaginative, sustainable and deeply connected to the people who experience it, and enjoys mentoring emerging designers and encouraging bold architectural thinking.

07/08/2026