Damian Bell - Architectural Designer & LBP

Damian Bell - Architectural Designer & LBP Architectural Designer (LBP2) | Minor Dwellings • Alterations • Small Homes | 25+ yrs experience | Practical, buildable design for real NZ projects.

Logan Terrace, ParnellAdditions and alterations to a transition villa in a heritage zone.Transition villas sit between t...
27/01/2026

Logan Terrace, Parnell

Additions and alterations to a transition villa in a heritage zone.
Transition villas sit between the late Victorian villa and the early bungalow era — retaining traditional timber form and street presence, but with simpler detailing and more practical proportions. They’re a key part of Auckland’s architectural evolution and contribute strongly to streetscape character in areas like Parnell.

This project includes a new garage with studio above, alongside a full refresh of the existing house — interior reconfiguration, new kitchen, bathroom and ensuite, bedroom upgrades, and landscape improvements.

Working in a heritage context means understanding what belongs to the street and what should sit quietly behind it. The new work is designed to read as contemporary but secondary — supporting the original house rather than competing with it.

On site now, with construction well underway.














Completed project — one I was closely involved with from the technical end through to completion.Set in the rolling land...
27/01/2026

Completed project — one I was closely involved with from the technical end through to completion.

Set in the rolling landscape of Matakana, this house keeps a deliberately low profile. Simple, elongated forms sit lightly in the paddocks, opening out to long views while remaining grounded and understated from the approach. The architecture relies less on gestures and more on proportion, alignment, and how the building meets the land.

Inside, large sliding panels pull the exterior deck and terrace right into the living spaces, blurring the line between inside and out. Deep overhangs, expressed structure, and carefully resolved thresholds do the quiet work — providing shelter, shade, and durability without visual noise. Externally, robust materials and restrained detailing are intended to weather and soften over time rather than fight the setting.

I was responsible for the full working drawings and construction detailing on this project. Translating design intent into clear, buildable information — and seeing that intent hold through to completion — is still the most satisfying part of the process.

📍 Matakana, north of Auckland

Yes....we do photo realistic renders also.
17/01/2026

Yes....we do photo realistic renders also.

As a follow up - those drawings (in my last post) started as a bit of a thought experiment, testing whether a very simpl...
17/01/2026

As a follow up - those drawings (in my last post) started as a bit of a thought experiment, testing whether a very simple, climate-led way of building could actually be pulled together.

The thinking is informed by traditional crofter houses from the Scottish Highlands and islands — small rural dwellings built for tough conditions. They’re simple and heavy: thick stone or earth walls, low profiles, steep roofs, and relatively small openings. You’ll also see them referred to as blackhouses, longhouses, or vernacular stone cottages depending on region and period — different names, same logic.

There are close cousins elsewhere too. In Ireland, traditional stone or mud cottages; in England and Wales, longhouses, cob cottages, and stone farm buildings — especially in exposed rural settings. What they all share is a very practical response to climate: weight, mass, and shelter first. Buildings that sit low, resist wind, hold warmth, and only open up where protection can be maintained.

The roofs here are imagined as curved corrugated steel, wondering whether that could be done in a practical way. Part of that thinking was prompted by things like the Tīrau Sheep, where corrugated iron is bent and worked into form rather than just laid flat.

We’ve got our own equivalent here in New Zealand as well — cob houses. Earth-built, thick-walled rural buildings made from local soils and straw, usually sitting low in the landscape with simple roof forms (often corrugated steel). Like crofter houses, they’re shaped by climate, materials, and use rather than formal design intent.

This isn’t really a style that’s “designed” in the usual sense — it’s more an organic response to place, climate, and materials.
I just wanted to try a crofter house — put some corrugated steel on it and imagine it in a New Zealand setting.

These drawings started as a bit of a thought experiment, testing whether a very simple, climate-led way of building coul...
17/01/2026

These drawings started as a bit of a thought experiment, testing whether a very simple, climate-led way of building could actually be pulled together. The thinking is informed by crofter houses and related rural buildings — not as something to copy, but as forms shaped by necessity: sitting low in the landscape, thick walls, smaller openings, and straightforward roofs on exposed sites.

The roofs here are imagined as curved corrugated steel, wondering whether that could be done in a practical way. Part of that thinking was prompted by things like the Tīrau Sheep, where corrugated iron is bent and worked into form rather than just laid flat. Less novelty here, obviously, but it shows the material can be pushed further than we usually assume.

This isn’t really a style that’s “designed” in the usual sense.
I just wanted to try a crofter house — put some corrugated steel on it and imagine it in a New Zealand setting.

I think I’ll try an all corrugated steel version next.

A quick follow-up to the last post.I took the original minor / secondary dwelling scheme and had a go at translating it ...
04/01/2026

A quick follow-up to the last post.

I took the original minor / secondary dwelling scheme and had a go at translating it into a more traditional architectural language — still small and courtyard-based, but imagined as something that’s evolved over time rather than arrived all at once.

This version leans into reused and repurposed elements from older houses, with mixed roof forms and salvaged joinery stitched together in a way that feels familiar rather than precious.
The central courtyard has been enlarged and glazed, almost like a conservatory — that in-between space that’s neither fully inside nor out (a bit Nigel Cook-ish in spirit). It becomes the heart of the house: sheltered, light-filled, and usable year-round.

There’s also a fairly deliberate nod to Ian Athfield’s early work — not stylistically copying, but borrowing the attitude: informal, clustered forms; slightly awkward proportions in a good way; steep roofs, finials, weatherboards, and plenty of stucco.

Still a sketch and a thinking exercise — part of an ongoing attempt to make small houses that feel grounded, adaptable, and like they belong.

A rough concept for a minor / secondary dwelling I’ve been playing with.A small courtyard house using simple profiled me...
01/01/2026

A rough concept for a minor / secondary dwelling I’ve been playing with.

A small courtyard house using simple profiled metal cladding, with timber screens and panels to break up the facades.

Still very much a work in progress, but I reckon the bones could scale up into a modest main house, or be tweaked to suit different architectural styles without losing its local feel.

The Christmas break’s been a good chance to finally upload a few ideas I’ve had sitting around for a while.

Patchwork Bach / Farm-Stay Concept:A small, honest bach made from whatever you can get your hands on — a bit like a patc...
31/12/2025

Patchwork Bach / Farm-Stay Concept:

A small, honest bach made from whatever you can get your hands on — a bit like a patchwork quilt.

The idea is simple: use what’s available. Reclaimed timber weatherboards, polycarbonate, profiled galvanised steel, breeze blocks, and reused glass blocks (very familiar from NZ buildings of the 80s and 90s). The sort of materials you might find stacked behind a shed or rescued from a demo yard.

It takes cues from rural NZ buildings — sheds, sleep-outs, farm structures — practical, unfussy, and quietly familiar. Nothing precious.

Very much a Wombles approach: making something warm and useful out of whatever happens to be lying around. The fireplace shown is a bit fancy, but realistically any small steel wood burner or even a pallet fire would do the trick.

This study explores NZ Arts & Crafts–influenced housing under real urban constraints — in this case, fitting a ~160 m² h...
31/12/2025

This study explores NZ Arts & Crafts–influenced housing under real urban constraints — in this case, fitting a ~160 m² home (excluding carport) onto a 250 m² suburban lot.
The form is essentially a 2½-storey house, designed to scoot in just under the 9 m maximum height limit typical of denser residential zones. With a bit of further refinement, I suspect it could be brought closer to 8 m without losing the overall intent.
The exercise has been about seeing whether traditional roof forms, vertical proportions, and layered façades can still work efficiently on small sites — offering density without resorting to flat roofs or bulky massing.
Still very much a design study, but a useful test of how older architectural languages might quietly solve modern planning problems.

Lately I’ve been spending some time exploring traditional / older housing styles, and how they might work for medium-siz...
31/12/2025

Lately I’ve been spending some time exploring traditional / older housing styles, and how they might work for medium-sized homes on small urban sites.
A bit of infill housing, really — but without defaulting to flat roofs, boxy forms, or the usual modernist language that tends to get wheeled out when sections get tight.
To be honest, I’ve found myself wanting to look beyond the default modernist responses that tend to dominate small-site housing. Not because modernism is wrong, but because it can sometimes come at the expense of warmth, proportion, and long-term livability.
These studies are about seeing whether older forms, familiar rooflines, and human-scale detailing can still do the heavy lifting:
– fit more house onto less land
– sit comfortably in established neighbourhoods
– feel like homes, not statements
Still early days and very much exploratory — but it’s been refreshing to step sideways rather than straight ahead.
More to come.

09/12/2025

Welcome to my new page. I’m pleased to announce we are now open for business.

My name is Damian Bell – Architectural Designer & Licensed Building Practitioner, with over 25 years of experience in residential design. I specialise in:

• Minor dwellings and secondary units
• Alterations, extensions, and renovations
• Small homes and compact living solutions
• Concept design, drafting, and 3D visuals
• Building Consent documentation and council-ready plans

My focus is on delivering practical, buildable, and well-considered design solutions that work for real homes, real budgets, and real sites. I aim to make the design process clear, efficient, and collaborative from start to finish.

If you are planning a project, exploring ideas, or simply want to understand what is possible, I’m now available for new work and enquiries.

Thank you for visiting, and I look forward to working with homeowners, builders, and anyone starting their next residential project.

Damian Bell

Architectural Designer & Licensed Building Practitioner

Address

Hastings

Telephone

+642102615387

Website

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