Fearon Hay are a small studio based in Auckland, New Zealand, with some of the country’s leading contemporary architects and designers. Their work is minimalist in the use of materials, yet luxurious and beautifully detailed. The Fearon Hay website however, is the focus of this article. It is a digital monograph – a publication of selected work covering more than a decade of practice. The site, designed by Sons & Co. contains many traditional book-like features that are rather unusual in website design: an index, page numbering and editorial layouts. Yet the interaction is consistent with the modern web: subtle movement and animation, keyboard navigation and smooth, transparent page-loading. This clean and lean website is a joy to browse, making use of some large imagery to illustrate Fearon Hay’s beautiful portfolio of work, but it’s the navigational elements that I find most striking.

We don’t typically associate law offices with contemporary, minimalist and (shhhh) sexy design. Magically, Jose Gutierrez  somehow managed to do all three with sleek sophistication included in this lawyer’s office in Auckland, New Zealand. Built in 2010, the space is pure joy in the world of simplicity and function. The combination of materials with the minimal use of color is just as striking. A fit-out for a lawyer’s office within a 1920′s heritage building. The brief was to create a clean, simple and elegant office that also had a “certain seriousness” about it. The openness and character of the space was respected and bespoke joinery units were carefully designed and inserted to create the architecture. I know the space probably doesn’t look like this on everyday basis (paperwork and all) but boy do I love it. Who knew law could be so attractive?