Pip Cheshire

I’m really saddened to hear of the unfortunately early demise of Pip Cheshire – one of the nicest, and best architects in the land. He was a brilliant architect: clever in mind, inventive and inquisitive, could draw beautifully, adjudicate differences in design, judge competitions, mend broken partnerships, design and get built some wonderful work.

He was a lovely man – still is – kind, considerate, compassionate, not at all egomaniacal, the complete opposite of the black polo neck jersey-wearing egomaniacal tosser that the Press likes to portray us as. Such a lovely human – he will be sorely missed.

Post-script: Of course, he is so much more than just an Architect, he is also a husband, a father, a benevolent benefactor, a decorated member of the Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (should have been a Knighthood !), bestowed upon him by my favourite Governor General Dame Cindy Kiro,

…as well as an intrepid explorer to Antarctica to restore the ancient old huts that were being slowly but steadily destroyed by the relentless ingress of ice dust, and of course, the originator of a wonderful memorial way up north in the Bay of Islands – commemorating the first Christian service in Aotearoa.

This is a tribute to Pip’s mind – a mixture of the traditional (rammed earth walls similar to the Pompalier House and of course some traditional Māori building techniques), and the latest feats from the America’s Cup boat-building team – a soaring roof off into the distance. Farewell young man, let your spirit fly free….

Post post-script

from the Britomart group, a lovely tribute:

We are mourning the loss of Pip Cheshire, who died on February 11 after a short illness. As an architect, an agitator, a visionary, a colleague and a friend, Pip was an inspiring and integral presence in the 21-year regeneration of Britomart. To put it another way: he was part of our family.

His involvement with Britomart goes back to the start. In the late 1990s, as managing director of Jasmax, he oversaw the design, with Mario Madayag and Greg Boyden, of the Britomart Transport Centre and the nine-block district to its east. Soon afterward, he founded Cheshire Architects; he and his small firm occupied a floor of the Maritime Building along with us and have remained deeply involved in imagining the future of Britomart to this day.

Pip’s achievements are extraordinary in their breadth: a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to architecture; the 2013 Te Kāhui Whaihanga NZ Institute of Architects Gold Medal for lifetime achievement; a five-year stint as an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland Waipapa Taumata Rau; designing striking and ground-breaking buildings including the Congreve House in Takapuna, Q Theatre, the Leigh Marine Laboratory and many more. He also had a pivotal role in the design of Te Papa, and in the preservation of Antarctic heritage huts in the Ross Sea. As President of Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects from 2014-2016, he championed the development of Te Kawenata o Rata, a covenant that formalises an ongoing collaborative relationship between the Institute and the Māori design collective Ngā Aho. He was also Aileen’s husband, Nat, Finn and Hal’s father, and a grandfather to four grandchildren.

If you didn’t know Pip, we recommend you watch the video that accompanied the announcement of his NZIA Gold Medal, as it gives a good sense of him. “I think that architecture’s always had a responsibility to the public realm,” he says in it. “You’ve got to leave the place better than you find it.” Pip was born in Christchurch but had a furious passion for the possibilities of Auckland as a city. We will miss him immensely, but we are comforted by the knowledge that he undoubtedly leaves his adopted hometown a far better place than he found it.