JODY SEABRIGHT
From the moment Jody Seabright stepped onto a dusty gravel road at his first Rally, he was hooked. “I’ve been involved in motorsport for three decades now,” says Jody. “It’s been a large part of my life alongside architecture – high performance cars, photography, and writing – motorsport is almost as much of a passion as good design and architecture is.”
Introduced to the sport by a colleague in 1988, Jody immediately felt at home, first as a competitor, organiser and official, then donning a media tabard to become motorsport journalist and photographer (winning awards along the way). For many years, Jody would trade a drafting pencil for a DSLR on weekends, following competitive events across the country.
When his son Ryan was old enough, he’d join in too. In 2009 Jody received the MotorSport NZ Media Awards for both Journalist, and Photographer of the Year, and then in 2016 was given a Distinguished Service Award by Motorsport NZ for services to the sport over many years.
“It’s always been about the raw emotion for me - the speed, the thrill, the smell and assault on your senses - I always tried to convey that story in my photos,” says Jody. And he’s come to see an overlap between his two passions.
““Architecture and photography are both ways of looking at things - seeing light, framing, detail, how things come together - it’s telling a story, just different mediums. This [photography] has been my thing, and in my work I want to build environments, spaces that inspire people to do their thing well.” ”
Jody began his architectural career at the drawing board, as a technician in 1987. He joined the Pynenburg & Collins team in 1991 and became a Director in 2016. With over 30 years in the industry, Jody has established a broad portfolio, from complex commercial and residential builds, to laboratories. He brings a strong track record in design, detailing, documentation, project administration, and construction expertise and has a way of getting to the heart of it, to understand his clients’ needs.
As Jody tells it, his goal is to make spaces that feel relaxing and inviting at the same time; fit for purpose, functional and inspiring - specially made for the personalities within them. “To create that feeling, you need to feel like old friends, to have that kind of trust between architect and client,” says Jody; so he takes an individualised approach from the beginning.
“I always ask my clients: how do you like to live? Are you the sort of person who likes to have people around? That could mean social spaces with room for flow and interaction. Or are you more private? A warm corner refuge, with a cat on our knee sounds spot on? It’s those sort of initial conversations I love having to get it right.”
Growing up in Turangi, Jody completed his studies in Waikato. He lives in Wellington with his two sons and wife, Heather, and is based from the Te Aro office. Outside work you can find him gone fishing, cruising up to Raglan to visit with his parents and watch the world go by, or as acting Secretary of the Wellington Car Club.
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“Architecture is a unique marriage of science and art, coming together to create something brilliant. The art of designing a space you can inhabit, that makes you feel good, and the science of turning that design a reality.”
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