Christopher Kelly was born in the Wairarapa on the NZ East Coast. He graduated B.BSc/B.Arch from Victoria University Wellington 1981 and worked for Athfield Architects until NZ registration in 1984 He traveled overland to Europe and was accepted by Prof Peter Cook as the inaugural guest student at the postgraduate Fine Arts Stadelschule in Frankfurt. In 2008 he presented an Alumni keynote lecture/exhibition at the Deutsches Architektur Museum. He worked for 3 years in Italy/Japan with Renzo Piano Building Workshop and established Architecture Workshop in Wellington in 1992. He collaborated with RPBW in Sydney 1997-2000 co-leading the RPBW Sydney office to design/build the CBD Aurora Place tower/apartment building with Bovis Lend Lease. AW has received international recognition for their NZ work.This includes the Peregrine Winery in Gibbston Valley, Otago, judged by the UK Architecture Review in 2004 as one of the world’s best 4 buildings by an emerging architect.This was combined with a presentation in London for the RIBA Spring Lecture Series.The redesign of the Wellington Oriental Bay beach, a joint venture, was co-winner of the George Malcolm Supreme Landscape Award, and the 2006 NZIA Supreme Award for Urban Design.Kelly & the Architecture Workshop design team won the 2011 New Zealand Architecture Medal for the Waitomo Gloworm Caves Visitors Centre. The centre won the Commercial and Innovative categories at NZ Timber Awards, ACENZ Gold Structural Award with Alistair Cattanach of DTC. Recently the practice has completed: a 20 home suburb designed for volume house builder Universal in Hobsonville; the Lindis Lodge in the glacial grandeur of the Ahuriri Valley which won best Hotel at the 2019 World Architecture Festival, a heritage workplace refurbishment for Wellington skin care company Antipodes & a new hybrid Library /Town Hall is currently on site in Bulls.

Architect with Kansai Air Terminal project team in Genoa and Osaka. 1987-1990.Project architect Aurora Place, Sydney CBD 1997 -2000