Architecture of Care: VOID Wins the NZIA Western Architecture Award for Eagars Funerals New Plymouth
Some buildings are asked to hold more than a roof. This one is asked to hold grief, memory, and some of the hardest days in a family’s life.
Eagars Funerals, designed by VOID New Plymouth, was built to do exactly that. And it has now been recognised with a 2026 Western Architecture Award from Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects, in the Commercial Architecture category.
For a New Plymouth architecture studio working at the intersection of restraint and warmth, this is a meaningful moment. Not only an award, but recognition of the design philosophy we follow at VOID: where architecture is, first and foremost, the careful shaping of space.
A Building Designed Around Presence
Eagars Funerals does not seek attention. It holds it, quietly and with intention. The NZIA jury described the project as “simple, functional, and closely connected to nature,” noting the way natural and reflected light shape it into a calm environment for people to experience their grief.
Local clients are increasingly coming to us for considered and contextual work. VOID approached this brief the way it approaches every project: by listening first. The result is a building grounded in a palette of warm timbers and honest stone, with generous glazing and water elements that soften edges and blur the line between inside and out. Private family rooms are tucked away from public circulation, offering quiet refuge. Large overhangs provide shelter and a sense of welcome at the threshold.
Our goal was to create “a serene, dignified place — an enduring gift to the community that offers comfort, compassion, and care when it is needed most.” Source
Why This Matters for Contemporary New Zealand Architecture
The 2026 Western Architecture Awards recognised eleven projects across Taranaki and Manawatū-Whanganui, judged by a jury that included Craig Dalgleish (Dalgleish Architects), Jono Murdoch (Ailtire Architects), Renee Woods, and lay juror Sandra Henderson. Jury convenor Craig Dalgleish noted that this year’s winning projects “reflect the particularities of their users, their context both immediate and general, exhibiting adaptation and care towards place and space making.”
That sentiment sits at the centre of what VOID stands for as architects of space: a belief that a void is not an absence, but an intentional condition. A place for light, movement, pause, and connection. For discerning clients evaluating custom home design NZ or considering a commercial architecture project of civic or cultural weight, this award is evidence of a studio capable of translating that philosophy into built form, at scale, under real constraints.
Eagars Funerals joins a growing portfolio of award-recognised work from the studio, including the acclaimed Lake Okareka House, reinforcing VOID’s position among award-winning architects New Zealand clients trust for projects that demand both technical precision and emotional intelligence.
A New Plymouth Studio With a National Reach
VOID is based at Level 2, 36 Eliot Street in New Plymouth, but the studio’s work extends well beyond Taranaki, spanning residential, commercial, and civic commissions across the country.
Still, there is something distinct about a Taranaki architecture firm earning national recognition for a building rooted so specifically in its own community. While it has been celebrated at the local level, its design legacy has spread far beyond that.
If you’re looking for New Plymouth architects who understand the emotional and cultural stakes, Eagars Funerals stands as a clear example of our studio’s approach. Architecture that is sculptural yet restrained, technically precise yet warm, and always rooted in context.
Looking Forward
To view the full project gallery and video walkthrough of Eagars Funerals, or to discuss a project with our studio, get in touch with VOID or see the full project submission here.
Photography: Brendan Lister. Eagars Funerals, New Plymouth, 2025. Winner, Commercial Architecture — 2026 Western Architecture Awards, Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects.
