Some of New Zealand's top design and construction students have spent 72 hours tackling one of our most pressing housing puzzles: how to design affordable, high-quality homes that can be adapted to communities across the country.
After three intense days of designing, debating and problem-solving, a winning concept emerged at the 2026 BRANZ ArchEngBuild Challenge, held this week at Ara Institute of Canterbury.
This year's national competition brought together 40 students from architecture, engineering, construction and related disciplines to tackle the challenge of balancing affordability, sustainability, resilience and quality.
Working in multidisciplinary teams, the students were tasked with developing a repeatable housing model rather than a one-off development — an approach designed to test not only technical skills but also collaboration, innovation and systems thinking.
The winning team
The winning team was announced by BRANZ Board Chair Nigel Smith at a prizegiving event at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū:
- Jinxia (Sophie) Chen, construction project management, Ara Institute of Canterbury
- Konstantinos Antonopoulos, landscape architecture, Victoria University of Wellington
- Joshua Rentoul, engineering, University of Canterbury
- Yuetong (Yvonne) Wang, architecture, University of Auckland
Their winning concept, 'Connected by Community', impressed the judges with its big-picture thinking, considering the entire housing journey from design to long-term liveability.
"The housing sector needs solutions that can work in different communities without starting from scratch each time,” Nigel Smith says. “The students responded to that challenge by developing thoughtful housing proposals that balanced competing priorities while remaining adaptable to different communities. What impressed us most was not just the quality of the designs, but the way teams worked across disciplines to develop practical solutions to a complex problem.”
The judges praised the high level of collaboration and the teams’ ability to turn a complex brief into practical, well-considered housing proposals in just 72 hours. They were particularly impressed by the way teams balanced affordability, quality, sustainability and resilience within a repeatable housing model.
The challenge also highlighted the importance of fresh thinking in addressing New Zealand's housing needs.
“Housing is one of the most important issues facing New Zealand communities, and there is a clear need for fresh thinking about how we design and deliver homes,” says BRANZ Chief Executive Claire Falck. “What stood out during this year's challenge was the students' willingness to test ideas, work across disciplines and engage with the practical realities of delivering housing that can work in different settings. That's exactly the kind of thinking our industry needs.”
The 2026 judging panel
- Cass Goodwin, Director and Principal Engineer, Batchelar McDougall Consulting
- Craig Hopkins, Chief Executive, Generation Homes
- Emily-Rose Dunn, Landscape Architect, RMM Landscape Architects
- Bernadette Muir, Principal Academic Staff Member Architecture, Ara Institute
- Victoria Threadwell, Senior Building Scientist, MBIE
Sponsorship for 2026
BRANZ funds ArchEngBuild through the Building Research Levy, along with industry sponsorship from:
- Concrete New Zealand
- Sustainable Steel Council
- New Zealand Timber Design Society
- Naylor Love (new sponsor this year)