A Design Pedigree You Can Trust

For over 80 years we’ve altered skylines, having been the team behind Auckland’s first high rises, and minds, establishing the University of Auckland main library building. Today we continue to produce reasoned, thoughtful, and considered designs for our clients big and small, throughout the Pacific region.

Innovation Is Our Future

While acknowledging the importance of past achievements, we realise that the future success and growth of CPRW and our clients, rests with the ability to maintain a fine balance between revolution and evolution, across all aspects of project delivery.

Technology such as Building Information Modelling (BIM) software and Virtual Reality (VR) are having a positive and beneficial effect on the way we document and deliver projects, from inception to completion – and beyond if clients require it.

The way we use VR technology is especially valuable at the front end of projects where being able to experience any proposed new environment virtually, offering a multitude of benefits over and above more traditional ‘3D’ renderings, or artists impressions.

VR provides a spatial awareness for the experiencer that is not possible using conventional presentation methods. It also provides a platform for clients in service related industries to conduct staff training in a virtual environment if required.

The simplest way to explain it, is that clients can walk through the doors of their new project in a virtual environment before any build costs are incurred. Alterations can be made to the design that you see and ‘experience’, without harming the budget.

VRTUE (Virtue Reality Touchstone for User Experiences) is our own platform for developing bespoke virtual environments. These take the form of both static, and animated simulations. The animations provide an intelligent and interactive platform for the observation and analysis of how future environments are likely to perform and how inhabitants will likely behave. This enables the many and varied stakeholders, each with a different perspective, to provide informed and constructive ‘first-hand’ feedback on any proposed design. Before a real wall is built.

80 Years Young

Our practice is built on a long history of excellence. We turned 80 at the end of 2020.

Established in 1940 as Massey Beatson Rix Trott Carter and Co, the founding Partner, Horace Massey, was one of the most prolific architects in New Zealand. Massey designed many stately residences, as well as commercial and public buildings through the 1930s and 40s which still define our cities and towns today, collecting 4 Gold Medals from the NZIA along the way.

The practice progressed rapidly during the post war building boom of the early 1950’s and soon became one of Auckland’s leading architectural firms. The city’s first high rise buildings and University of Auckland faculty buildings – including the main library – are among our many achievements.

Renamed as Curtis Penman Read Williams in 1974, we built on our reputation, gaining further recognition as leading architects in the retail banking sector.

Our collective experience was further enhanced early in 2016 with David Morgan and Wade Jennings becoming directors of the practice.

Since then, and with the support of the wider CPRW team, Wade and David have been implementing a strategy to take the business into new territories. Territories which are mutually beneficial to CPRW, as well as our clients and collaborators, both new and old.

Boundaries will continue to get pushed, past experiences called upon, and strengths will be tapped. Perhaps most importantly, that diversity of experience and knowledge will continue to inform and challenge clients from a point of view they may not have expected.