We celebrated the launch of our book Cape to Bluff Vol. 2 at VidaSpace’s Auckland showroom on 11 June 2026. It was a fantastic night, attended by 120 guests. Thanks to everyone who came to support us and enjoy VidaSpace’s wonderful hospitality.

This book project was a creative partnership between photographer Simon Devitt, writer Andrea Stevens and designers Luke Scott and Sarah Gladwell. Here’s Andrea’s launch night speech:

We love making books. It’s book number 6 for our collaboration. We have had many other collaborators in all these projects – graphic designers and art directors Sarah Gladwell, Luke Scott, Alan Deare and Arch MacDonnell. Co-author Bill McKay in the state house book. And Kahn Drain who looks after photo post-production across all books.

Our subeditors and proofreaders – Matt Turner, Dave Glynn, Liz Stone and Gillian Tewsley. If you pick up any recent major arts book, and some of the architecture books, it’s highly likely my collaborator for ten years Matt Turner helped to craft the final text. He was one of the best subeditors New Zealand’s ever seen, and an excellent writer in his own right. We tragically, and suddenly, lost Matt a fews years ago.

Simon and I both run commercial practices, and books are our opportunity to create objects that we think have cultural longevity. I spotted one of Patrick Reynolds and John Walsh’s books in a second-hand bookstore recently. It cost twice its original purchase price – clearly a good investment – and a testament to why we keep making them.

In our latest edition of Cape to Bluff, it’s all about residential architecture and the landscapes they sit within – in this edition also some urban landscapes.

It spans 30 projects – from 40 sqm in Nelson right through to some expansive footprints in the Bay of Islands and Hawke’s Bay.

Simon gets to see them all. To experience the light, the wind, the sun. I get to talk with the architects and designers – to learn the clients’ dreams, their interpretation of the site, and how they have applied design to achieve something new, guided by how they understand the world and how they craft material into three-dimensional space.

When I think about the essence of houses – I see them as a marker of time and a place to grow up and grow old. A rite of passage for a young person or a couple. A place to raise and educate children. A place for whānau to be together and practise being better humans.

Architects and designers are trying to interpret all these things and bring them together in a building with longevity. And, using an industry term as my anchor – I think the heart of all this is anchored in the site.