Louise Wright (architect)

Louise Wright (née Ryan) is a New Zealand Māori architect. She is of Te Arawa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti and Rongowhakaata descent.

Biography
Wright studied architecture at Victoria University of Wellington, where she won a scholarship to study for a semester in Rome, Italy. After graduating, she worked for Ian Athfield's firm, Athfield Architects, for five years.

In 2005 she co-founded Assembly Architects, which focused on residential work and projects for Wellington Zoo. In 2012 the practice moved to Arrowtown, in the South Island of New Zealand, and began to specialise in high-end homes. Thermal performance in construction has become a focus of Wright's work, and rammed earth construction is a feature of many of her designs.

In 2017 Wright was the convener of the awards jury for the New Zealand Architecture Awards. In 2014 she was appointed to the New Zealand Registered Architects Board. Wright is active in the Southern Lakes district, as a member of the Jack's Point Design Review Board and the Arrowtown Planning Advisory Group.

Awards and recognition
In 2013, a pavilion at Wellington Zoo, co-designed by Wright and two colleagues, won a New Zealand Architecture Award for Small Project Architecture. In 2017 The Sawtooth House, co-designed by Wright, won a housing award at the New Zealand Institute of Architects Southern Architecture Awards. In 2020, Wright won the Wirihana Leadership Award at the Architecture + Women NZ Dulux Awards.

Personal life
Wright is married to fellow architect Justin Wright. The couple have three children.