OTO Group Architecture

OTO Group Architecture OTO Group is a holistic architecture practice focused on relationships and crafting balanced spaces.

04/05/2026

They kind of look like cowls or capes. I’m enjoying playing with different shapes and base forms to see what changes with height and mass. I’m enjoying experimenting with the reflected light off the metal and onto other surfaces. They also become a source of lamp black, I could make my own ink…

21/04/2026

A well-planned build is built twice: once on paper, once on site. The first build is where the costly mistakes get solved for free.
It sounds counterintuitive. The building sector has softened, the economic headlines are cautious, and confidence is down. So why would we say now is a great time to build?
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Because it is if you’re strategic about it. For anyone seriously considering a custom home, the next six to nine months represent one of the best windows we’ve seen in years.

For a well-resolved, considered house, the kind we design at OTO Group, the journey from first conversation to breaking ground is roughly six to nine months depending on the complexity of the brief and the site. Design, engineering, consenting, and planning all happen before a single trade sets foot on site.

Start that process now and you break ground in summer. Foundations, framing, and getting the house weathertight all happen in the best weather window of the year. Interior fit-out runs through winter once the house is dry.

When the building sector is busy, subcontractors don’t return calls and pricing comes back late and padded. Designers end up working with guesses and these lead to more expensive building sites. It is always preffered to have plenty of time to make decisions without pressure or hurry.

In a quiet market, this inverts. Builders, electricians, plumbers, they actually engage with the design process. They return accurate pricing based on current rates, because they genuinely want the work. That means by the time you go to build, you know what the house will cost, not an estimate that blows out on the way. That’s a very different experience from building in a boom, and it’s one that only exists in a market like this one.

We also want engaged trades, we want the people who are going to be building your dream home to understand the design, the thinking behind it and what is going into it.

So if you’ve been thinking of building a house, reach out and let’s have a chat about what to do next and why now is a great time to be talking about your dream home.

Oshi’s hair is gets unruly and untangling a three year old’s hair can be a challenge of wits. I’ve made him objects of h...
02/03/2026

Oshi’s hair is gets unruly and untangling a three year old’s hair can be a challenge of wits. I’ve made him objects of his own in the past, to encourage him to use them. It’s a strategy that works too, I made him a spoon and a bowl and it encourages him to have breakfast with less fuss. I’ve made him toys and stools and other things, he and I get satisfaction from him asking “papa made this?”

It follows a philosophy I have about all design and architecture that if you have meaningful and considered objects and spaces around you, you’re more inclined to use them. A well designed bathroom is a pleasure to be in on a cold morning rather than a poorly designed one which makes you want to hurry away on your day. A beautifully well planned kitchen encourages you to cook. A sunny window seat makes you want to sit there, watch the birds and read a book.

These combs have already been put to use, here’s to seeing if now we can create a nightly ritual of using his combs. He has already put them in a special place and used them once or twice.

The darker one is American Cherry and the lighter on is Atlas Cedar. Both are my favourite species of wood to work with at the moment. I recently built a desk out of this cedar and it smells fragrant every day when the sun hits it. It’s a pleasure to saw and sand. The Cherry I’ve been using for a while and is predominantly what my candlestick holders are made from.

Mangawhai Dune House as featured on Grand Designs
31/10/2023

Mangawhai Dune House as featured on Grand Designs

Mangawhai Dune House as featured in Grand Designs
31/10/2023

Mangawhai Dune House as featured in Grand Designs

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