The foyer of Eyes and Eyelids in Remuera, Auckland

Eyes and Eyelids’ innovative building has won two design awards in the 2021 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards. The boutique eyecare surgery in Remuera, Auckland, netted an Innovation Award for its relocatable design and a silver award for its overall design in the healthcare project category.

Founder, oculoplastics specialist Dr Paul Rosser, said given the judges’ obvious interest when they visited the practice, staff and the architectural team weren’t too surprised by the overall design award win, but they were blown away by the sole 2021 innovation award. “The innovation award was particularly pleasing as we were faced with having to build on leasehold land with the risk that the ground rent could increase significantly. Therefore… we opted to design a building which could be removed if needed.”

To achieve this, the building was designed as three separate modules on wooden piles that fitted together by ASC Architects. The judges particularly liked the ingenuity of this design, said Dr Rosser, as it could be a blueprint for other buildings with similar issues in the future.

The silver award for overall design was also gratifying, he said, particularly as Eyes and Eyelids’ building design came second only to two far bigger competitors: the new Christchurch Hospital Waipapa building and the Tiaho Acute Mental Health Unit in Counties Manukau.

“Winning the awards is testament to the original design, careful planning and high-quality workmanship across the whole development,” said Dr Rosser. “We were faced with very limited real estate options and restricted land area for both the build and parking, yet the clinic and theatre spaces are comfortable, attractive and flow well for patients.”