Top architect knighted after decades of service

For one of Aotearoa’s most celebrated architects, there’s a new reason to celebrate.

Pip Cheshire has become a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his decades of work.

He told 1News for all the complexities behind architecture, there is one goal at heart.

"I think at it’s heart, architecture has to serve the community, have a clear notion of how things might be better," he said.

But "huge amounts of work" goes behind that goal, he said.

For Cheshire, a drawing with a 6B pencil turned into a model, and an old car park and bus depot in central Auckland became nine blocks of one of New Zealand’s most well-known urban spaces in Britomart.

Cheshire has been honoured for bettering lives with his buildings and homes, along with his mentoring and teaching.

There is also his work of conserving Antarctica’s historic huts. He said architecture's next generation is battling rising temperatures and bureaucracy, and more economic headwinds.

"It just makes it more important that young people have a dream and a challenge, and work to achieve that challenge."