What makes a place feel alive? True placemaking is about more than luxury apartments or retail turnover. It is about community, connection, and soulful design. Exploring Ponsonby’s decline and how thoughtful transport, materials, and street design could bring back its buzz and vibrancy. Michael Davies Architect NZ.

The final blog in the Sensory Architecture series explores how multi-sensory design creates spaces that resonate on a deeper, more human level.

Discover how taste influences architecture and placemaking. From multisensory design to the flavour of materials, Daedal explores how taste completes the sensory experience of soulful architecture.

Explore the role of sight in sensory architecture with Daedal. Discover how natural light, visual hierarchy, and material contrast enhance wellbeing and deepen our connection to space. Michael Davies Architect NZ.

Discover how smell shapes our emotional connection to space in part 3 of Daedal’s Sensory Architecture series. Explore the power of scent, natural materials, and biophilic design with Michael Davies Architect NZ.

Explore how touch shapes emotional connection in architecture. From natural materials to thermal comfort, this post reveals why designing for the sense of touch creates spaces that feel alive. By Michael Davies Architect NZ.

Discover the power of sensory architecture with Daedal. This introduction previews a six-part series exploring how design can shape emotion, connection, and wellbeing through all five senses.

Plastics labelled as ‘eco’, ‘green’, or ‘carbon-negative’ still contribute to microplastic pollution and disconnection from nature. Daedal explores why true sustainability means going beyond surface-level solutions.

Want a healthier building? Learn what questions to ask your architect, builder, or supplier to ensure your materials are non-toxic, sustainable, and good for both people and planet. Michael Davies of Daedal guides you with some options.

Natural materials like wool, timber, and stone outperform many man-made alternatives. At Daedal, Michael Davies Architect NZ explores why soulful, sustainable architecture starts with what nature already perfected.

Sustainable buildings can still cause harm. At Daedal, Michael Davies Architect NZ explores why regenerative and biophilic architecture must go further — restoring ecosystems, enriching lives, and creating soulful, living environments.

Great architecture begins with the land. Discover why landscape-led design leads to more resilient, soulful, and sustainable buildings – from city blocks to tiny homes. A Daedal perspective by Michael Davies Architect NZ.

Discover how thoughtful acoustic design can transform noisy cities into soulful, human-centred environments. Michael Davies of Daedal Architecture explores how biophilic design and emotional architecture can restore calm, connection, and care to the soundscape of our urban spaces.