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JUNE / JULY 2022 KITCHENS SPECIAL: THE HEART OF INNOVATION

ARCHITECTURE / DESIGN / INTERIORS / LANDSCAPES

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A farmhouse hovers above a valley, and a Tai Tapu home ignites rural magic

Under city lights and country skies – homes that dance in light and shadow

The villa reimagined: Drawing sun and life into Auckland's heritage

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Of the Land

Moonlight Melody

Let it Breathe

Celebrating the best New Zealand homes since 1936

9 416803 000108

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ISSUE 500

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Contents

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In short

People, places, and events not to miss 24

Viewpoint

A southern surf club building seeks to be part of the landscape while offering shelter from it 28

Heritage within

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Potter Amanda Shanley revives one of Dunedin’s oldest buildings into a studio and apartment 32

Arts

Upcoming exhibitions and local creatives influenced by architecture and interior design 34

Books

We preview upcoming titles and talk with Wellington’s Good Books to hear their recommendations 36

Open Christchurch

We attend the city’s annual festival of architecture 48

Time and place

A Wanaka home by Condon Scott Architects embraces a rich materiality and swathes of colour

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Of the land

John Mills designs a country home for a woman returning to her land 56

Stone and timber

A clever addition to a 1900s villa in Auckland with the kitchen at its heart 60

Black, white

A kitchen of contrasts defined by tonal and material juxtapositions 36

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Contents

Homes 82

Memory rock

An off-the-grid bach settles into its site between coast and wetland on Great Barrier Island 96

Country scenes

This Bull O’Sullivan designed rural, multigenerational home is outlandish and entirely cinematic

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Light above the dunes

Andrew Sexton Architects place a home for a woman on the highest contour of a Kapiti Coast sand dune 124

Let it breathe

A compact courtyard is devised as the central link between old and new in a clever villa addition in Ponsonby 96

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Painting in layers

This Patterson Associates Parnell home is a well-mannered, urban oasis with a delighful slow reveal

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SIMON JAMES

Pier Chair by Leonard Kadid for Resident Fragment Dining table by Simon James Cross Pot by Arno Declercq

Furniture & Lighting

simonjames.co.nz

61 Upper Queen Street Eden Terrace Auckland 1010 Ph +64 9 377 5556

Editor’s letter

The year 1936 was an interesting one: it was the year London lost the Crystal Palace to fire, King Edward VIII abdicated the throne to marry divorcée Wallis Simpson, and the BBC launched its first public television broadcasts in London.

In New Zealand, Michael Joseph Savage introduced the 40-hour week and Jean Batten completed the first solo flight direct from Britain, landing in Auckland.

By 1936, five years had passed since the Napier earthquake and fires and the city had declared itself the ‘newest’ in the world. It was the era of Art Deco and Spanish Mission architecture. The following year, the first state houses would be built in New Zealand as the Great Depression slowly came to an end.

Image Chanelle Dickinson

It was in that context that HOME was launched in Auckland in October 1936, under the masthead Building Today. Published quarterly, the magazine cost ninepence a copy at the newsagent. Its pages were expensive to print, filled with illustrations of the country’s latest houses. The first editorial spoke of a sense of hope: “In this young country there is a glorious opportunity for all our people to live and work in beautiful and efficient buildings … .”

Ads touted the benefits of electric stoves, modern gas, and electric washers; timber merchants advertised their products alongside roofing manufacturers, paint suppliers, and glaziers.

An article about modernism spoke of “these ‘modern style’ houses, how dramatically different, how astounding, with their clear hard outlines, wide windows boldly facing the sun and their flat roofs …”.

Putting together this issue — and I speak for the team here — we felt a real sense of pride that we are able to continue the legacy of this magazine, taking HOME’s continuous record of New Zealand’s residential architecture into the future, and in the process telling the stories of our time.

Here’s to turning 500!

Clare Chapman clare.chapman@homemagazine.nz

FIND US ONLINE

homemagazine.nz @homemagazine.nz facebook.com/homemagazine.nz

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Mastering the art of hometime

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Editor-in-Chief Clare Chapman Managing Editor Federico Monsalve — Art Director Day Barnes — Subeditors Karen Alexander Chris Hall Proofreaders Justine Clifton Odelia Schaare — Commercial Director Nat Davis nat.davis@parkside.co.nz +64 27 371 0975 Advertising Manager Emily Wakeling emily.wakeling@parkside.co.nz — HOME is published by

Contributors David Straight Simon Devitt Sarah Rowlands Kirsten Matthew Amelia Holmes Thomas Sear-Budd Paul McCredie Guy Frederick Jackie Meiring Peanut Productions — Editorial enquiries editor@homemagazine.nz — Subscription enquiries magstore.nz subscriptions@magstore.nz 0800 727 574 — Printing Ovato +64 9 928 4200 Distribution Are Direct +64 9 979 3018

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HOME Parkside Media PO Box 46020 Herne Bay Auckland 1147 New Zealand

Issue Jun/Jul 2022 On the cover Memory Rock House, Great Barrier Island

by JCA Studio Image David Straight

— HOME is subject to copyright in its entirety and the contents may not be reproduced in any form, either in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved in material accepted for publication, unless initially specified otherwise. All letters and other material forwarded to the magazine will be assumed intended for publication unless clearly labelled ‘not for publication’. We welcome submissions of homes that architects or owners would like to be considered for publication. Opinions expressed in HOME are those of the contributors and not necessarily those of Parkside Media. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material. Circulation 11,430, Nielsen Media Research AP15+ 03/20–03/21 audited readership 95,000.

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Contributors

Guy Frederick

Sarah Rowlands

For this issue, you photographed Amanda Shanley’s studio and apartment. What stood out most to you about this building?

You shot the New Brighton Surf Life Saving Club for this issue. What stood out most to you about this building?

I’ve always had a soft spot for the city south of The Octagon. For me, it’s the sheer potential of this area that the studio encapsulates and that underpins its essence.

Also, given my addiction to light, the interaction and play of light in the space is positively dreamy.

As a photographer, what is it you enjoy most about your work?

Photography has been a gift through which I interpret the world, which often means distilling complexity into simplicity. My intention is to present the viewer with the opportunity to view a space and, most importantly, their relationship with it, differently.

Based in Dunedin, your work has taken you to some far-flung places, including Antarctica. What is one of your most memorable destinations/jobs?

I have been stupidly fortunate through my career as a photographer and writer, so this one’s hard, but, given my affinity for remote places, it’s difficult to beat Antarctica. Making photos alone under the midnight sun around the environs of Scott Base made my body and being melt and meld into one.

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How it looks so different from various angles. Also, the curved seating area at the front — sometimes it looks like a wave, or a giant shark’s jaw; it depends on your frame of mind!

You also captured the Open Christchurch event for us.

Tell us a bit about your experience of this architectural weekend.

It was immense fun and there was a great atmosphere.

Seeing so many people experiencing buildings that might otherwise be difficult to get access to was wonderful. It’s such a great event for Christchurch.

You work predominantly in the South Island; what is it you enjoy most about the area and the nuances of its residential architecture?

I love the defined seasons, and how the light changes here. With the architecture, there are regional variations; we have the modernist vein, known as the ‘Christchurch style’, in Canterbury, but then, for example, Central Otago has a different look and feel, with local stone and schist used frequently in the building of homes.

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Design / 19 Design_ Life and Culture

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Art, design, books, events, and people and places of note.

Above Diva’s Dreamscape, Peter Wakeman, New Zealand

Art of architecture DESIGN:01

Inspired by visionary architects past and present, the World of WearableArt (WOW) will this year reintroduce the Architecture category after a seven-year hiatus, using the human body as an architectural canvas.

Across plane, structure, and texture, entries in the Architecture category will explore specific materials and their properties, considering how they drape, pleat, fold, and wrap.

worldofwearableart.com

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“The Architecture section has inspired wonderful work in the past and we are just as excited about the garments that will take to the WOW stage in the section this year. It is simply mind-blowing to see what the designers have dreamt up.”

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“It is always exciting to bring architecture into the context of wearable art and see where designers go with that. For some, it is the opportunity to explore the work of an architect that they admire, or to be inspired by a building or structure that they love, or they might take a very abstract approach and play with shape, volume, and colour to achieve an architectural quality in their own unique piece of wearable art,” says WOW head of competition Kat Sprowell.

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Deconstructed pop DESIGN:03

Dutch artist Nemo Jantzen’s renowned hyperrealism is played out in his latest show, which explores the powerful presence of visual culture in a modern world, mixing photography and pointillism, and deconstructing pop culture to create mixed-media photo compositions that question the perception and perspective of mass media.

Collecting thousands of images and organising them by theme and colour, Jantzen embeds them into small, handmade resin spheres, joining them together to create his large-scale mixed-media photographic portraits, requiring viewers to constantly investigate their perspective through an interplay of up-close viewing and standing at a distance.

Delicate hues of autumn DESIGN:02

Yvette Velvin, retail manager at glass-blower Monmouth’s store on Auckland’s Karangahape Road, talks about stocking her shelves with the flair of an oil painter. Her aesthetic involvement is such that the glass-blowers themselves have asked that she select the colours for their most recent collection.

“I’m a painter and think a lot about colour!” she confesses, talking about some of the minerals found in glass as well as the pigments used in paints. She also talks of Italian painter Giorgio Morandi, whose still lifes of bottles and glassware influenced how this collection was photographed (by Scott Hardy).

“In my hyperrealistic work, I try to capture details of highly enlarged photographic moments in time; often decadent and noir-style subject matter with a story to tell, like a movie still with an open ending,” Jantzen says.

“I deliberately play with focus and use optical vocabulary to create a sense of depth, connecting the image and viewer, thus bringing into question the act of voyeurism and the anticlimactic and revelatory nature of privacy.

“We sometimes get bombarded by so much information that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Particularly, my intent is to heighten viewer awareness of how individual perception is influenced by mass-media messaging.”

Jantzen’s first New Zealand show, Keep Dreaming, opens on 9 June at Artbay Gallery in Queenstown.

artbay.co.nz Below Sunrays, Nemo Jantzen

For this collection, the blowers and Yvette opted for opaques and clears in a variety of colours such as Cornflower, Pistachio, Amethyst, and Sunrise.

As for the shapes, many include classic Monmouth designs with a twist.

“Greek and Roman forms do linger at the back of our heads somewhere,” says Stephen Bradbourne, talking about the quest for simplicity being one of their key drivers. The bud vase, for instance, has gone from its usual medicine bottle–inspired form into something more geometric.

“For us, it’s really about the manufacturing process,” says Isaac Katzoff. “It’s about squeezing that production process down to the most efficient way to make that shape and really kind of nailing it, getting the colour right, getting the forms, and then being able to replicate that over and over.”

The new Monmouth lighting and vessel range introduces three new shapes, a range of new colours, a number of lights in voluminous extra-large and extra-extra-large sizes, two new bud vases, a stemmed goblet, and a pitcher-style carafe.

monmouth.glass H O M EM AGA ZI N E. NZ

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Celebrating Home of the Year 2022 DESIGN:04

At an exclusive awards evening held at the Designer Rugs showroom in Grey Lynn, Auckland, in April, we celebrated this year’s winners and finalists. The winners were toasted with exquisite drops from 2021 New Zealand Winemaker of the Year Jules Taylor, craft beer from Citizen, and water from Antipodes. French canapes were served by chef Arno Jullien.

“It was an honour to host this event in celebration of the 2022 winners and finalists — projects designed by some of New Zealand’s most talented architects and designers, a group of people whose work is testament to the industry with designs that dare to be bold, to push the boundaries, and to deliver innovation at its best,” HOME editor-in-chief Clare Chapman says.

Thank you to our 2022 event partners: Designer Rugs, Jules Taylor Wines, Citizen, Antipodes, Arno Jullien.

To view the full image gallery, scan the QR code or visit homemagazine.nz

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Home of the Year 2022 is presented in partnership with:

H O M EM AGA ZI N E. NZ

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Viewpoint Words Clare Chapman Photography Sarah Rowlands DESIGN: 05

Intersecting a meandering public pathway that leads through the dunes of New Brighton beach, a new building seeks to be both part of the landscape and offer pockets of shelter from it.

A collaboration between Oslo-based firm Snøhetta and Christchurch-based South by Southeast, the design is the result of nearly a decade of talks and extensive community engagement. It is the third premises of New Zealand’s oldest surf life saving club, New Brighton.

Weaving a built tapestry of people, site and stories was the main design driver for this building that has, in reality, achieved much more. As much landscape as architecture, there are moments of shelter, places to connect and invitations to explore, yet the plan is clearly defined to ensure the three main functions of the building don’t overlap: surf lifesaving, community spaces, and public/casual interaction.

“The sculptural timber form carves out spaces for the community to dwell, observe, and gather, and allows the public to inhabit niches at ground level that overlook the redeveloped foreshore,” Ken Powrie of South by Southeast explains.

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“The driftwood-like timber element rests upon a robust boulder – the lifesaving vehicle and equipment space – whose facade shimmers with a honed concrete finish that brings the colours of the locally sourced aggregate to life.”

The upper level provides an uninterrupted observation platform, a function room and bar, and an external roof terrace to the west. The accoya cladding was chosen to provide a link with the colours of the surrounding landscape, and it “also allowed us to play with textures and colours that change with the play of light through the day and the seasons, creating surfaces with an inherent dynamic nature”.

The idea was to create a sense of belonging; a strong local presence forging meaningful connections between people, built environment and landscape to foster a shared sense of identity and community ownership.

“The external cutaway stair runs along the face where the connection from the pathway comes down through the dunes. We wanted people to walk along there and engage with the building; to stop and chat, and sit and connect with others and with the landscape.”

From Snøhetta’s point of view, this was a collaboration that represents the emerging needs of the design industry. “Designing for social equity; building and material reuse … and maintaining ethics, values and culture. This cannot be done effectively in isolation,” Snøhetta’s Kaare Krokene explains.

“Both firms view architecture as an opportunity to enrich and enliven places, to make buildings that speak of their sense of purpose and their role within the community.

We believe we have a responsibility to design for the long term; for well-being, security, enjoyment and for the theatre of life that ultimately animates and flows through all the built form.”

It is a collaboration that delivers spaces of delight and interaction, woven into a form that provides an undeniable sense of place – a reflection of the past, present and future of the tight-knit community it serves, and its surrounds on this iconic site in Ōtautahi.

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Back garden Words Clare Chapman Photography Guy Frederick DESIGN: 06

Just near the Octagon in Dunedin, a 158-year-old two-storey commercial building had been empty for several years, slowly deteriorating amid the hustle and bustle of Princes Street. Previously, it had been home to a range of retailers and tenants — most recently a school uniform shop.

The facade gave little away of the beautiful heritage features within; rather, it stood bleak and rundown, a void of sorts in an otherwise busy part of the city.

However, when ceramic artist Amanda Shanley began looking for a central Dunedin studio, the building’s fate was to change.

Part of a larger building spanning a block and known as Farley’s Buildings, the structure was designed by architect Charles G Smith and was built in 1863. It is among the oldest commercial buildings in the southern city. The brick buildings with stone foundations were a step apart from the surrounding built environment, which at the time was predominantly defined by timber construction.

Over the years, the building has seen numerous external changes, from bull-nosed verandahs to hanging verandahs and replastering in the 1940s. Despite the changes the form has remained intact, and when Amanda bought her part of the building, there was a sense of opportunity while retaining the heritage character.

“Downstairs, there were changing rooms, mirrors, and old carpet. It smelt damp and mouldy.

The first floor was totally unloved, with a leaking roof, splintered wooden wall linings, an old fireplace with a tumbled-down brick chimney held up with a piece of wood, and a wet ceiling and floor in one corner. The first thing we did after we purchased it was to replace the roof to dry the place out,” Amanda explains.

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H O M EM AGA ZI N E. NZ

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Win a two-night stay at Amanda Shanley’s Airbnb in Dunedin, and a six-set of Amanda Shanley cups.

Visit @homemagazine.nz on Instagram and follow the instructions to enter.

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“On Princes Street three years ago, you could buy a building and turn it into a pottery studio. That is what I love about this neighbourhood. There’s a bus stop right outside and a constant flow of pedestrians. Buses come and go every few minutes during rush hour. We look out onto the Scenic Hotel, there’s a popular Turkish restaurant, a sushi restaurant.”

Extensive new joinery on the lower level created sightlines through the building and to the bank behind it — important to Amanda, whose vision included the need for pedestrians, as well as occupants of the studio, to be able to look through layers onto a native garden.

“Someone walking along Princes Street can stop and peer through to greenery on the back bank. What goes on behind commercial buildings is important to me, and strangers are already commenting on this. The garden is sheltered and private, yet in the middle of town.”

This balance of public and private was also important for the studio itself, with Amanda wanting to split her working time between the two.

“Opening hours are part-time, and the remaining hours are my time alone to create my work,” she explains.

Upstairs, the previously unused space has been converted into an apartment that Amanda rents out through Airbnb as short-stay accommodation for visitors to the city.

“It’s such a privilege to work on a building of this age,” she says. “Being able to create this space upstairs to be lived in for the first time was important. So many commercial buildings have unused space so I wanted to make sure we made the most of it.

“We kept many heritage features, including the brick wall in the stairwell to the apartment, which leads up to a set of original French doors.

The apartment floor is the original Baltic pine.

“I think a mix of old and new is always more interesting than something completely new. In the ground floor studio, there is an industrial feel.”

Exposed structural steel posts and beams are bolted against the original brick walls and juxtaposed with crisp, light walls, ensuring the original craftsmanship and tactility of the space remain both visible and tangible.

There’s texture; there’s old, new, and a carefully curated collection of art, furniture, and lighting. Above all else, there’s character and a sense of history within these walls.

“Standing outside now and looking in, I’m able to smile about how we rescued a public building,” Amanda tells us.

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Arts DESIGN:07

Words Federico Monsalve

Insider art Interiors and architecture have been influencing artists for centuries. We take a look at some upcoming exhibitions and local creatives tackling this fruitful combination.

At home in the Pacific Many of Robin White’s paintings (such as her infamous Fish and Chips, Maketu) and recent collaborations of painted masi — the Fijian word for tapa, made in Lautoka, Fiji, with Robin’s friend Tamari Cabeikanacea — depict architectural or domestic, interior scenes. Sometimes those themes are present as backgrounds to portraits, others as the subject itself.

So, why is the built environment so important in her art?

Fleeting architectures Kathryn Carter is an architect and founding artist member of Railway Street Studios Gallery, as well as an exhibiting artist at Megan Dickinson Gallery, Whangarei. Here, she talks about how art and architecture inform and influence her dual career.

Life influences art and as an architect and an artist, I constantly search for the expression of beauty and emotion as part of my work.

The discipline of being an architect — concern for context, sunlight, line, proportion and volume of space, relationship to landscape, people, history, geography, geology, construction and cultural references — all informs my interest in painting landscapes.

Drawing enables me to better understand the exploration of the passing moment, what is seen and felt, the transitory nature of light on land, sea, and sky, a descriptive gestural statement of the power and beauty of our natural environment before it has gone.

The architecture of cliffs and caves, headlands, beaches and sky.

All architects draw and all these elements are investigated through drawing and translated into architectural form. Beneath this lies the history of the land before inhabitation. There is something of the mystery of this that I like to explore in my work, to describe what I see as an interpretive record: transitory, beautiful, ephemeral, taking drawing into painting, before the moment has passed.

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“I couldn’t say it better than Greg,” says Robin, referring to writer Gregory O’Brien, who, in 2017 said: “In Robin White’s recent masi, we experience the Pacific in terms of that most human of environments, the living room — a place of belief, custom, ritual, sustenance, interaction, rest, activity and, crucially, of love.

Instead of thinking about the Pacific as an infinite expanse, here we contemplate it as an intimate family space.”

Robin’s upcoming major exhibition in Wellington and, later, Auckland, promises to take traditional Pacific art forms and look at, among other things, domestic scenes as a way to understand many aspects of our region.

Robin White, Te Whanaketanga | Something is Happening Here will be on show at Te Papa from 4 June to 18 September 2022, followed by Auckland Art Gallery from late October 2022. The book of the same name, edited by Sarah Farrar, Nina Tonga, and Jill Trevelyan, will be available from Te Papa Press on 6 June.

Art and decor For some time now, Emily Hartley-Skudder has been fascinated with collecting and making artworks out of domestic paraphernalia and materials often used in the construction of bathrooms, kitchens, and home spaces. We talk to the Wellington-based artist about her latest pieces and why she insists on turning the home into a work of art.

What attracts you to making artworks out of home interiors, furnishings, and materials?

This page (Top) Staging Your Comeback feat. Erica van Zon (detail); (above) Staging Your Comeback feat.

Yvonne Todd (detail), 2020; (below) Flower Child, 2021 Facing page (Left) Day Begins, Kathryn Carter; (top) This is me at Kaitangata, 1979, screenprint, Robin White; (bottom) Something is happening here, 2017, masi, Robin White and Tamari Cabeikanacea

It all started with an obsession with doll’s houses as a child, where I got to play home decorator on a miniature scale. I remember making clunky wallpaper designs on the computer programme Paint. My grandmother wove mini carpets for me on her loom and we made furniture and accessories out of Fimo (the coloured polymer clay you bake in the oven). I returned to my collection of miniatures at art school, carefully constructing interior scenes and using my camera to shrink down into their reality. I then began translating these photographs into oil paintings, focusing on the still life and its history. This attention to the domestic space ultimately led me to stockpiling real versions of the accessories I played with as a child, using them to construct life-sized faux-home installations in a gallery context.

A lot of them have a touch of nostalgia to them, right? Is there a specific period/era/style of interiors that you like and what about that do you like?

They definitely do! I like to mash-up things from different eras — mostly 1950s–1980s. These pre-loved objects have a kind of charged energy to them because they have a previous history, including when they were ripped out and discarded. My use of distinctly retro materials highlights shifting tastes and how restrained a lot of interior decor is in Aotearoa these days — perhaps because of the property market, where ‘generic’ is best for resale.

You have also started making larger, life-like sets of bedrooms and bathrooms. How do you start one of your stage sets?

My works often start with a specific object or material, and I then work out from there.

For my installation New Old Stock, it began with an avocado-coloured bathtub and matching en suite basins I found on Trade Me, and I kept the rest of the components to a blue and green hue to match. I particularly enjoy the fact that the avocado bathroom suite has become something people love to hate.

It has been said that some of your work challenges notions of ‘femininity’ in domestic life. Do you agree?

In some ways, it started unconsciously, in the same way that kids are drawn to certain toys. But toys are socialisation devices after all, and are often very gendered. My prioritising of feminine and feminist content has become more pointed over time. I’m fascinated with the gendered nature of some colours and imagery, and use ‘girly’ pastels that are at odds with Aotearoa’s dark and broody art history canon.

One reason I explore retro aesthetics is to acknowledge that the decoration of the domestic space was historically a common creative outlet for women. At the back of my mind are the historical gender disparities in the art world, and in some ways I’d like to subtly pay homage to women who became homemakers and home decorators instead of artists. That all comes back to looking at the value of everyday, private spaces, and the gender divisions attached to them.

emilyhartleyskudder.com

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Books DESIGN:08

Words Federico Monsalve

Full house From finding mindfulness through a chainsaw to imagined tours of the homes of creatives; we explore the latest and greatest design and architecture infused books.

Lives of Houses Edited by Kate Kennedy and Hermione Lee Princeton University Press The homes of creative types have always garnered a faithful following. Something about the messy patina of oil paints or charcoal smudges, strewn books or scattered notebooks brings out a romantic notion of how inspiration and objects intermingle in a living space, helping masterpieces arise as if from thin air. This book is a collection of more than 20 essays focused on the homes of interesting humans — some obscure, others not so much — and written by equally seasoned wordsmiths.

It meanders through periods of time and ebbs in and out of imagined or demolished houses, as well as those that still stand as monuments to former inhabitants. W.H. Auden’s New York apartment (a messy hovel, apparently), Italian villas owned by music composers, country homes of politicians, artists studios, empty houses seen from the perspective of the movers (among others); all are written as if looking for signs of genius — or at least humanity — in even the smallest details. This from the introduction: “Lives of Houses opens doors onto what went on between the walls of a house, what secrets a house might contain, how it has been remembered and written about, and what remains of it, in the real world, and in the mind’s eye.”

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House of Joy: Playful Homes and Cheerful Living Gestalten Available from August Forget the muted palettes of Scandinavian design we have come to associate with relaxation and calm; here they are replaced with almost Caribbean colour schemes made to express a hip-shaking mood of eccentricity, laughter and carefree ways.

It is not exactly a new frontier for design (even for this publisher, whose book House of Glam already covered some of this vibe), and there are strong whiffs of Memphis revival, with its bursts of lively colour, and explosive, often incongruous, patterns that became synonymous with ‘happy living’. This book is firmly based sed on that mood: joyful interiors constru ucted from daring geometrical adornment, bombastic statements and even intriguing combinations of eras; think a mid-ce entury apartment refurbished with eccentr ci rather than its usual bow-tie elegan

Handmade: Learning the Art of Chainsaw Mindfulness in a Norwegian Wood

By Siri Helle Granta Chainsaws and mindfulness are not exactly comfortable bedfellows. In this book, Norwegian author Siri Helle promises to find a midpoint between power tools and introspection as she inherits an old cabin in the woods, and, without any previous construction knowledge, sets out to build an outhouse. Along the way, Siri is said to ponder, with good dollops of humour, why we have become so divorced from the art of making things by hand, and what happens when she challenges herself to learn a new craft craft.

You good thing As one of our favourite Wellington independent bookshops, Good Books, approaches its second birthday, we talk to its crew about its design, and books they feel would be right at home in our readers’ libraries.

How did your store come about?

Catherine Robertson and Jane Arthur, both writers, came up with the idea just after New Zealand’s first lockdown. We opened our doors in October 2020, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to find a like-minded community of book lovers, staff and customers. We are proud to be the first accredited Living Wage bookshop in the country.

Can you share some suggestions of books on your shelves HOME readers will enjoy?

Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write by Alex Johnson (Quarto) This beautiful hardback contains 50 vignettes of history’s greatest authors, and the rooms, methods and routines that shaped their writing careers.

It’s a great book to dip in and out of and draw inspiration from. Johnson, together with James Oses’ gorgeous ink illustrations, has created the perfect small coffee table tome for book lovers and aesthetes.

Home Theatre by Anthony Lapwood (e Herenga Waka University Press)

The interior is quite beautiful. Can you tell us about it?

The fit-out was designed by Bonnifait + Giesen Architects, who took our long list of practical requirements — versatile display surfaces, shelves on a slight angle to prevent books falling, accessibility and inclusivity — and made it beautiful. Every day we have people comment on how calming the space feels, and how well the books are highlighted by the layout and lighting of the shop.

Like an apartment building, the short stories in Home Theatre

by Anthony Lapwood (Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Whakaue, Pākehā) feature an eclectic mix of people. The stories range from the domestic (such as a mother and son cleaning up ants with a vacuum cleaner), and the awkward (an invasive interview with a council property manager) to the surreal. They span time periods, with one foot always planted in the fictional Repertory Apartment building in Wellington. It is a strong local debut from a graduate of the International Institute of Modern Letters.

Toi Tu Toi Ora: Contemporary Māori Art edited by Nigel Borell (Penguin NZ) This is a landmark book that follows the incredible 2020/2021 exhibition of the same name at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki. An immense, lusciously produced record of contemporary Māori art of the past 70 years, this should be a staple in every art-loving household.

Goose the Artist by Kimberly Andrews (Penguin NZ) From the talented author/illustrator of the award-winning Puffin the Architect, Goose the Artist is a stunning local picture book about a portrait painter who wants to enter an art competition. Children will be introduced to a number of art styles and techniques, including cubism and impressionism, and the rhyming text is great fun to read aloud. It shares a nice message about the rewards of creating art for art’s sake.

Reviews by manager and co-director Jane Arthur, and senior booksellers Becky Popham and Eamonn Marra.

Good Books — 2/16 Jessie Street, Te Aro, Wellington 6011 goodbookshop.nz

Of note: Join the Milan Club If there is one thing to have come out of long periods of lockdowns worldwide, it is our increased ability to connect and create communities through digital means. The Salone del Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair) is no different. Among many other initiatives that combine design and the digital realm, the Italian institution has launched its own book club; through which quirky, insightful, awe-inspiring and refreshingly stylish

tomes on subjects of architecture and design are discussed at length.

The blog covers everything from Japanese illustrations of imagined cities through to urbanism; successful women as reflected by their own homes to Portuguese short stories about design objects. salonemilano.it/en/book-club

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Federico Monsalve travelled to Open Christchurch courtesy of ChristchurchNZ

Open Christchurch Words Federico Monsalve Photography Sarah Rowlands and Peanut Productions DESIGN:09

HOME attended the second iteration of the annual architecture event Open Christchurch. Here is what we found.

From a church to a prison; from a public toilet to the mayor’s office; from talks on Māori art and architecture to walks around a Buddhist temple — Open Christchurch on 1–2 May, with its eclectic programme, unbolted the doors of public, yet little known, and entirely private enclaves that many city dwellers would never have come across or even considered approaching. To be precise, 41 buildings, 23 activities, and four guided walks. Yes, the impetus for such events might initially look like an act of architectural voyeurism but, in a place like post-quake Christchurch, the sentiment has more to do with community building and engaging people with a city that is shifting, expanding, and opening up without necessarily letting them know about it.

“It is about fostering a greater sense of belonging,” explains Jessica Halliday, the founder of Open Christchurch and director of Te Pūtahi Centre for Architecture and City Making, “because you are more familiar with a place when you learn more about its architecture, its history, and its people. Over time, this builds your sense of connection to a place.”

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This page Open Christchurch's tour of the Observatory Hotel was one of the event's most sought after. The Observatory and Physics Building restoration

by Warren & Mahoney was complemented by colourful, Arts and Crafts-inspired interiors designed by Jessica Close

Below The social spaces of the Observatory Hotel in the heart of the city's Arts Centre

Above top Two images from the recently restored Dorset Street flats. The project was Sir Miles Warren's first foray into residential modernism combining touches of Brutalism and a Japanese aesthetic

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The architectural historian — who has wanted to create something like this since volunteering at Open London while doing a PhD there — hopes to provoke many questions about the built environment.

“Why does it matter to society? What is the potential of it to contribute to our lives? What is it doing to contribute to the well-being of the planet and those who live on it?” she says.

“Eventually, we hope to open up some wider interrogation about what good design is.”

Cantabrians are probably better versed at these design questions than many of those who live in other New Zealand cities. Everywhere you turn in Christchurch there are still the very visible or the invisible scars of tragedy. Gaping holes with concrete ruins and stagnant water where buildings once stood, offices with shattered windows, tagging, and a constant flow of squatter pigeons; or simply absences where something solid once resided. Yet there are also incredible sights of growth and resilience — reminders of the ‘gap filler’ generation, celebrated through the Festival of Transitional Architecture: FESTA, and the incredible humans who kept the city running under a haphazard level of urban continuity.

Whereas the joyful and almost cathartic mood of the early FESTAs was all about what Christchurch could become, Open Christchurch is a celebration of what it is; an act of capturing and internalising the quickly evolving urban landscape and making it visible and accessible.

The effect of the event as a whole was one of heightened awareness of the minutiae of the built environment, of the thinking behind what might seem, initially, like fairly simple choices.

“It sort of makes you slow down and look at cities in a different way,” I offer up to Jessica.

“That is exactly what we are hoping for,” she says.

Top left Access to usually private architectural gems such as Rout House (Jonty Rout, 1979) was a highlight of the event

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Top right Ōruapaeroa/Travis Wetlands Bird Hide (Crispin Schurr, 2002). A beautiful example of unexpected architecture during the tour

Above Addington Gaol. A former prison by Benjamin Mountfort, (1874-80) was a crowd favourite at Open Christchurch

For a full image gallery and more commentary, scan the QR code or visit homemagazine.nz

Resene Half Orchid White

Resene Wild Thing

Resene Raindance

Resene Mozart

WILD AND BRIGHT

The beauty of colour in Christchurch’s hippest new hotel, The Observatory

Eleven years after Christchurch’s Arts Centre was extensively damaged by the earthquakes, the opening of a boutique hotel marks the beginning of a new story for the Gothic Revival building.

With 33 individually styled rooms, the hotel makes a statement: interior designer Jessica Close has incorporated a wild mix of colour and lavish texture, reminiscent of the Arts and Crafts style that was in vogue when the building was constructed.

“I liked the idea of visiting the hotel and being able to request a particular room that spoke to you. Every room has its own design scheme and personality,” Jessica says. She’s achieved just that utilising a rich palette of more than 25 Resene colours across walls, trims, and on custom furniture.

Resene Smoky Green

Resene Clementine Orange

“Colour selection for this project was a joy. I only had to look at the myriad of William Morris print references to start pulling together ideas.

I chose to highlight woodwork, and paint furniture and lamps as a way of pushing the interior theme of Arts and Crafts into the 21st Century.

Just like in nature, all colours work together – it’s just about how much of each,” says Jessica. Ýëè Ĥñìöëèç ìñ÷èõìòõö äõè ä÷ òñæè åòïç äñç æòðéòõ÷ìñê ÷ëèõèđö äñ eclectic aesthetic that runs throughout, with expertly conceived palettes in individual rooms.

resene.co.nz

HOME turns 500 DESIGN:10

This is the 500th issue of HOME, a significant milestone in the title’s nearly 90-year history of documenting New Zealand architecture.

In October 1936, HOME was launched under the masthead Building Today as a quarterly magazine “devoted to the interests of all who love homes and gardens or who are interested in architecture and buildings”.

It was the era of Spanish Mission and Art Deco in New Zealand, which marked a significant departure from the villas and bungalows that preceded it. It was a time of change; as the Great Depression was slowly coming to an end, flat-roofed modernism was emerging in New Zealand. Napier declared itself the “newest city in the world” following the devastating earthquake and fires of 1931, and the first state houses were built in 1937.

In the first editorial, the magazine’s aspirations were made clear: “In this young country there is a glorious opportunity for all our people to live and work in beautiful and efficient buildings. Untrammelled by the past, but with every architectural tradition from which to borrow, with unique and vigorous natural surroundings from which to draw inspiration … the way is open to develop a characteristic native architecture.”

A joint venture between Victor Beckett and the New Zealand Institute of Architects, the magazine was distributed free to NZIA members and was sold for ninepence an issue; by 1937 it had changed its name to Home and Building and was circulated nationwide.

Ever since, HOME has documented the development and evolution of New Zealand’s residential architecture — recording the nation’s history and the lives of New Zealanders through the lens of the built environment.

In celebration of this, the 500th issue of HOME, editorin-chief Clare Chapman spoke with three of HOME’s former editors about their time at the helm, highlights over the years, and what residential architecture says about life in Aotearoa: Debra Millar (1994–2000), Claire McCall (2000–2005), and Jeremy Hansen (2005–2016).

Jeremy Hansen Claire McCall

Debra Millar

What drew you to HOME initially, and what were your experiences/memories of it prior to becoming editor?

Debra Millar: I was first of all appointed assistant editor to Kirsty Beckett at the age of 25, when I returned from my OE. At that time the magazine was still called Home & Building and it was owned by the family of Victor Beckett, who founded it in 1936. It’s fair to say it was a steep learning curve for a young newspaper journalist who had never worked on a magazine, let alone such an iconic one and with subject matter I knew very little about.

Jeremy Hansen: I’d been a journalist for about a decade when I returned to New Zealand from a stint in Hong Kong, keen to write a little more about architecture. NZ Home & Entertaining, as it was then called, had an architectural focus that I loved and that I felt showed my home country as a place of design creativity and innovation. As luck would have it, my friend Penny Lewis was deputy editor, so she assigned some freelance stories to me. One of my first pieces was about architect Bill Alington’s own mid-century Wellington home. Bill was wonderful and so was the house, so I was hooked.

Tell us about your tenure as editor. What did you enjoy most about your time at the helm?

DM: I found the whole world of architecture completely enthralling.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, we also focused a lot on commercial design in the magazine — retail spaces, offices, public buildings — and I enjoyed learning about all aspects of the architectural process.

Gradually, the emphasis on home increased, and during that time I tried to uphold a focus on the more architectural aspects of residential design. Launching the Home of the Year Award in 1995 was the culmination of that focus.

Claire McCall: Getting to know this tight-knit community was an indelible experience, but undoubtedly the highlight of every year was judging the Home of the Year competition. What better fun can you have than a whistle-stop tour of Aotearoa, while exploring the best-designed homes in the country? I was privileged also to instigate the Home of the Decade, and on that judging journey I was joined by Glenn Murcutt. He is such an inspirational human being — mindful, kind, and astute. We had a blast.

JH: I was — and still am — pretty evangelical about the power of architecture to make people’s lives better, whether they’re living in a lavish home or social housing, and the magazine gave me the luxury of a platform to promote this theory and the work of people who proved it.

From a purely selfish standpoint, it was a luxury to be able to immerse myself in a subject I loved and to learn more about it from some of the country’s best practitioners. Getting to escort international architects such as Charles Renfro, Amanda Levete, and Tom Kundig on Home of the Year judging tours was an incredible privilege, too.

This is HOME’s 500th issue. Why do you think it has stayed relevant throughout the decades?

DM: The magazine has provided a continuous record of home design in New Zealand for more than 85 years. The careers of successive generations of New Zealand architects have been boosted through having their buildings featured in the magazine, and it has raised awareness of what makes a good New Zealand house, in particular.

That is positive for the architectural profession, as well as for consumers of architecture.

CM: A 500th issue in these digital days is certainly cause for celebration. HOME has stayed relevant because it celebrates cuttingedge residential architecture in a way that is not highbrow yet is thoughtful and insightful. It does not talk archispeak but consistently showcases what the profession can offer to a design-conscious audience. Plus, it has always invested in the best architectural photography and writing, and has built loyalty with both its audience and those who are designing New Zealand’s most interesting homes.

What were some of your key achievements as editor?

DM: Launching the Home of the Year Award in 1995 still ranks as a highlight. Securing sponsorship for the very first competition from the paint and homewares company Levene was a key milestone.

Then, attracting entries of the calibre of Patrick Clifford’s Remuera house, which won the inaugural award, helped to cement the award’s reputation as a serious architectural competition. Patrick’s winning house would probably still be a contender if entered today.

CM: Instigating Home of the Decade, which judged the first 10 Home of the Year winners against each other. It really captured the imagination of readers and the wider public. I also tried to encourage and support architectural writers, including Jeremy Hansen — who was living in Wellington at the time but moved to Auckland to become editor of HOME when I said, “Have I got a job for you!” — and Simon FarrellGreen, whose first architectural piece was published in HOME and who subsequently went on to become editor.

JH: My tenure spanned a pretty volatile time in the magazine industry, so I think keeping the magazine alive was probably the main one!

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Is there a particular issue/feature and/or cover that stands out to you?

DM: The 1995 issue that featured Patrick Clifford’s house on the cover as the winner of the first Home of the Year Award. Thereafter, every Home of the Year Award issue became a bestseller, as well as the culmination of an enormous team effort behind the scenes. It was a particular thrill to have our own home, the Courtyard House, designed by my husband, Guy Tarrant, named as runner-up in the 2017 award — eight years after I had moved on to new publishing endeavours.

CM: My favourite cover was the Pete Bossley house in the Marlborough Sounds, a beautifully assured home he designed for the cinematographer Michael Seresin. In fact, that is my favourite house of all time, as much for the design as for the interesting global backstory — a true product of two brilliant creative minds.

JH: This is a hard one, as there are many, but, scanning through past covers, the one that jumps out is our first Small Homes issue [August/ September 2015], I think because it helped me prove a point. There was a prevailing view in the company at the time that HOME was a ‘luxury’ title for people who were into bling. Many of my bosses thought the idea of a Small Homes issue was insane, but it sold incredibly well and became an annual thing, proving that there were a whole lot of readers out there who were interested in design ingenuity with a smaller footprint.

What is it that you enjoy most about design/ architecture?

DM: Seeing ideas realised in built form. The permanence of a house.

And, ultimately, the ability for architecture to transform the way that we experience the world, at both a micro and a macro level.

CM: When I left HOME, I wanted to write about New Zealand architecture globally but I found that very few consumer titles were interested — save a couple in Australia — so I changed tack, wrote a book [Green Modern, published by Penguin], and kept on writing about architecture for various local publications. I have also managed to work as a communications consultant for select architectural studios — which I love, as most architects are too busy doing what they do best (design) to write about it or promote themselves properly. The world of residential architecture is ever evolving and every house has a story.

I enjoy the challenge of bringing both the architectural ideas and the perspective of the homeowners to the piece — and I don’t shy away from including a lightness of touch and even some humour!

SMALL HOUSE SPECIAL

—— Off the shelf: solving the housing crisis with clever thinking

—— We reveal Ernst Plischke’s tiniest project, 50 years on

—— A beautiful hideaway in the bush

by Stevens Lawson

Little Wonders How small living can make your life better

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—— Expert reports on architecture and design from Venice and New York

JH: I think architecture is generally a profession that’s focused on solving problems, big and small, and that’s what keeps it interesting for me — I, too, like the idea of solving those problems, and I still believe in the power of architecture to do so.

HOME + RADFF

HOME is proud to be a gold partner of the Resene Architecture & Design Film Festival

Cinematic design DESIGN:11

Now in its 11th year, the Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival has once again exhibited an inspiring range of films that embody creativity and inspiration.

The four film categories — quiet icons, creativity, problem solving, and importance of place — illustrate the evolution of architecture and design over the past century, with particular focus on where this will lead industries in the near future.

From celebrating those who lived their lives devoted to their art, to the innovators who carved new routes with their ability to create and influence change, this carefully curated festival is one not to miss.

Following hugely successful events in Auckland and Wellington in May, the festival is touring New Zealand in June, showcasing 16 new and critically acclaimed films.

Top A still from Mud Frontier: Architecture at the Borderlands, Cooper Hewitt Above The Automat, photo by Lawrence Fried, 1951, Audrey Hepburn in the Automat, NYC

Cinemas and dates for the Resene Architecture and Design Film Festival 2022: Dunedin: 2–15 June at Rialto Cinemas Christchurch: 9–26 June at Deluxe Cinemas Havelock North: 9–22 June at Event Cinemas To read more about the festival, and HOME’s film reviews, scan the QR code or visit homemagazine.nz

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Conscious travel DESIGN:12

Road trips are synonymous with the way we holiday in and around New Zealand.

They’re the stuff of childhood memories, of family holidays, and the good old weekend getaway – especially for those who live in one of our cities.

Getting in the car and driving out of the metropolis to experience our natural landscapes has an allure that’s hard to ignore: there’s something about the open road, big skies and the beauty of the coast and country that’s good for the soul.

In the context of living sustainably though, is the classic Kiwi road trip really the best way to go?

With the new all-electric BMW iX, getting on the road while reducing our impact on the planet is easier than ever.

Until now, electric vehicles were more suited to shorter trips and daily commutes, however that’s changed with BMW’s latest technology: the iX has a range of up to 630kms – and when it is time to charge, there’s a dedicated and growing public charging network covering every area of New Zealand to support the conscious traveller.

Stopping at a high-powered public charging station, it’ll take just 40 minutes to charge the iX to 80% capacity. Or, plug it in overnight and the day ahead is yours to explore.

The iX interior is also considered holistically, with a sustainably-grown timber centre console, natural wool fibres, and leather upholstery coated in olive leaf extract gathered from leaves following the pruning of trees in

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European olive groves. Carpeting and floor mats are made from a synthetic yarn produced from recycled nylon waste sourced from recovered fishing nets and other waste materials.

Couple the iX with a local outlook, and the New Zealand road trip begins to look very different. Small decisions such as supporting local producers and makers go a long way to contributing to the protection of our environment while holidaying around New Zealand.

“For me, it’s about taking the time to look at the options and what’s available. For example, travelling to Otago recently, we were able to explore a number of eateries that grow and use local produce. A choice like this supports the local economy and plays its part in stopping the unnecessary transport of food and other goods,” HOME’s Clare Chapman says.

“Making conscious choices is about slowing down and considering how to enjoy our country in the most responsible way. Often, experiences planned in this way offer an enriching and valuable experience that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Place the BMW iX in the mix, and the New Zealand road trip becomes an experience in driving pleasure.”

Find out more at bmw.co.nz

HOME + BMW

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HOME + Peter Fell

Nature abounds DESIGN:13

Linking material and place with natural concrete.

In the heart of Otago, nature is at the forefront of every landscape. Its power is inescapable – the volumes of the peaks and valleys omnipresent; a constant reminder of scale and dimension.

Here, the built environment is one of a nuanced vernacular designed around the harsh climatic conditions ranging from frost, sleet and snow to typically long, dry summers with temperatures reaching some of the highest in the country.

There’s an earthen palette to the landscape in summer - verdant greens, browns and the blues and turquoises of the glacial lakes. Wild flowers abound, and the tussocks and grasses give way to a vibrant tapestry of purple and pink hues.

In autumn, the colours are transformed into a chorus of red, orange and yellow before the leaves drop and give way to a winter palette defined by snow capped mountains, carpets of frost and the effervescent forms of icicles.

To design for this environment, particularly when considering landscaping elements, is to create places of longevity and protection. On the edge of Lake Hayes near Arrowtown, the 2022 Home of the Year does just that with carefully chosen materials. Juxtaposing concrete, schist, steel and glazing, architect Anna-Marie Chin delivered something spectacular, and perfectly in keeping with the beauty of the natural landscape.

Upon arrival, the scene is one of some grandeur.

Gabled forms are linked by glazed passages, stone walls define boundaries and an extensive concrete driveway introduces the visitor to an entry sequence of various options. To one side, immense garaging; to the other the house in proper.

External materials here pay heed to the distinctive greys of the braided rivers the area is known for, and the natural stone of the glacial valleys of central Otago. By keeping the exterior concrete natural, the landscaping becomes an integral part of its surrounds. Where a natural finish was desired, a PeterFell Natural sealer was selected to protect exterior concrete surfaces while retaining the natural look and feel of concrete, “This allowed the natural tones of the concrete to remain at the forefront of the aesthetic, and for the local aggregate material to maintain a beautiful synergy with the surrounding environs. The Natural Sealer is essentially like pouring water on concrete and letting it dry: you can’t tell it has been used. It is a penetrating sealer that forms a cross-linked matrix below the surface, which means it will not peel or wear off over time, will not change the colour of the concrete, and works beneath the surface to increase the longevity and performance of the concrete.”

This is a project that is entirely of its place, thanks to an elegant material palette chosen to highlight the breathtaking environs.

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Time and place Words Kirsten Matthew Photography Simon Devitt DESIGN:14

Frank Gehry really knew what he was talking about.

“Architecture should speak of its time and place, but yearn for timelessness,” the world-renowned, Canadianborn architect said.

It’s an apt description of Gehry’s most successful buildings and of this home created by Condon Scott Architects.

Place — a lakeside Wanaka subdivision — was most influential in the architectural design of the 332m² home.

“The clients definitely wanted the house to feel of the area — a rural central Otago feel,” says architect Barry Condon. “The site’s pretty interesting, with views across to the lake and the alps, and the home presents its face to the mountain vistas.”

To enhance the sense of place, large swathes of glazing were installed throughout the home to maximise the landscape. Doors open onto decks from two of the three bedrooms, and can be peeled back in the open-plan living area. A rich exterior materiality of cedar, schist, and metal joinery echoes the hues found in the local environs.

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“Those materials perform well down here, where it can get to the mid 30s in summer and below zero in winter,” says Condon, “and the warmth of the wood contrasts with the roughness of the schist. The schist chimneys anchor the building while the clean, steel elements add a bit of grit to the design.”

Time — the time in which the home was being created and the time of life the owners are in — was important, too.

“They were looking for a classic but modern style; somewhere they could entertain, display their artwork, and be outdoors with kids and grandkids,” says Condon, who designed the living to be at the centre of the site and bookended by two bedroom wings.

It’s here, in the interior designed by local interior designer, Melanie Craig, that the sense of place is dragged indoors.

“We wanted to use texture and colour, to deepen them a little to create drama and dance,” says Craig, who admits her work is never minimal. Warm cedar ceilings and timeless polished concrete floors are paired with an earthy palette and unexpected flourishes such as green sheer curtains and a large floor rug with mustard-yellow details.

However, it’s a textured wallpaper installed in the gallery-like entranceway, on a wall in the kitchen, and above the living room fireplace that ties the whole aesthetic together.

“It’s rough to the touch and absolutely scrumptious,” says Craig of the deep green-black paper by Élitis.

“It sort of bridges the stone and the cedar,” adds Condon. “It reminds me of rammed earth and it works really well.”

Even the courtyards feel like interior spaces, decked out with dining tables, sofas, sculptural schist fireplaces made by Pembroke Schist, and a bar area connected to the kitchen by a servery bench. Condon designed one courtyard at the front of the house and another at the back; slatted timber screens can be moved to protect them from the elements, because being mindful of place means accommodating prevailing winds and hot sun.

Now, no matter the weather, the owners can sit outside and enjoy their time in their place.

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Woman of the land Words Clare Chapman Photography Paul McCredie DESIGN:15

Jenny Sparrow’s family has lived and farmed in Whitemans Valley for six generations. While the use of land in this valley has slowly evolved over the decades, there’s a history at play here that architect John Mills wanted to capture.

valley in winter. In summer, the days are long and hot.

The valley is now home to lifestyle properties, areas of dense native bush, and forestry blocks alongside active farms.

island, floating in the sea of the landscape. That has

“Designing this house for Jenny, I knew it had to be of its site. She wanted to retire out here, on her land, in a home designed for her,” John explains. “No longer needing a large family house, her brief was for a permanent, comfortable, secure home for a woman of the land in a beautiful landscape. There needed to be adequate guest amenities but the focus was on how this house would work for Jenny.”

It’s a place of climatic extremes, and the site itself is exposed on a soft ridge. Sometimes it snows in the

There’s wind and a lot of rain. This house needed to embrace that with spaces that were strongly connected to the landscape.

John’s vision was for a house that would become an been realised in a relatively modest home of considered dualities: a play of planes.

“The landscape slopes down to the north-west, while the roof slopes up to the north-west on a similar angle,” John explains. “We wanted to harvest that winter sun from the north and draw it right into the house.

“There’s a nice symmetry: the west and north elevations are the same, and the south and east mirror each other.

It’s a subtle play of spaces. From the centre of the house — the kitchen — there are panoramic views to the north-east and north-west.

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The subtle tones of the silvering Siberian larch cladding allow the house to blend in with the muted colours of the paddocks and hills that stretch out around it.

Inside is a different story. A black oxide concrete floor is set against a ceiling of black-stained ply; together they provide a visual frame for the extensive views, accentuating the colours of the environment.

“It’s a simple, rustic aesthetic suitable for a farmhouse with moments of softness and delight.”

For Jenny, who returned to this land aged 65 to retire, the new house is a place of contentment, with strong links to her family heritage. On the wall in the lounge is a picture of a picnic in 1908.

“You can see the paddock where they were from my place. The women were wearing these magnificent, huge hats; the men were in suits. My grandmother was about eight years old in the picture.

“The land I own now was originally part of my parents’ farm, and this particular slice of it was left to me. It felt like the right time to come back to this land, to the peace and quiet,” she tells us.

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HOME + Samsung

Bespoke Design Challenge Unleash your ceativity and go in the daw to win a Samsung Bespoke Refrigeator valued at $6,899 and have your design featued in HOME! To celebrate the release of this industry-first refrigerator, HOME has teamed up with Samsung to launch the HOME + Samsung Bespoke Design Challenge.

Launching today, the design challenge invites entrants to submit original artworks and designs intended for a Bespoke Refrigerator.

The challenge is open to entrants residing in New Zealand, and spans creative talents across all disciplines from photography to graphic design, art, and more. The options are limitless.

Visit homemagazine.nz/bespoke or scan the code to enter

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A contemporary kitchen of timber and stone Words Katie Delany Photography David Straight DESIGN:16

Once an old farmhouse, this historic Epsom villa has welcomed a modern addition fit for entertaining.

Beneath a 300-year-old pōhutukawa, a 1900s farmhouse is firmly settled on its site. Not much has changed in the villa’s history until recently. It’s a familiar tale: the building with ornate ceilings and architraves, although beautiful, didn’t fit the needs of a busy contemporary family.

The clients, who loved the historic aspect of the home, initially wanted an addition in the same style as the original house but later agreed on a modern interpretation of the farmhouse aesthetic without altering the existing building.

“They had been living in this home for 15 years, and they loved it, but after all that time with a tiny kitchen and an outdoor laundry, they needed an addition that was functional,” architect Andrew Daly explains.

In stark contrast to the villa, the 89 square metre addition is one of minimalist detailing; it is a more utilitarian space of function and tactile beauty. Housing the new kitchen and laundry as well as an extensive open-plan dining and living area that opens out to a large area of decking, the scale and proportions here are a far cry from those in the original house.

Vertical cedar lines the walls and ceiling — an ode, Andrew says, “to the historic nature of old lean-to villa additions”. Recycled kauri floorboards — taken from a building demolished after the Christchurch earthquakes — reflect the light brought in from the large glazed sliding doors to the north and east, which open the space to extensive decking.

The pitched ceiling is broken by a trio of skylights above the kitchen that introduce light from the west. In the evening, three perforated metal pendants cast a golden hue over the space.

Anchored to the core of the kitchen is a stone island, introducing an industrial aesthetic.

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“The design and materiality are a nod to the age of the original house,” explains kitchen designer Nicola Manning.

Due to the large scale of the island, two slabs of stone were needed.

“I wanted to create the appearance of a monolithic block at one end of the island, which meets the Trillium stone of intense greys,” she says.

The abstract Trillium stone continues on the back cooktop, where the texture is highlighted by inbuilt flush lighting.

“The design of the cabinetry was to be seamless and linear. The horizontal lines were emphasised to contrast with the vertical aspect of the cedar panelling and the height of the ceiling. We then coated the cabinetry in Dulux Franz Josef Quarter, which was chosen for its tonal match to the grey in the stone benchtop. By a happy accident, this is a similar hue to the steel roofing, so, when looking from the outside into the kitchen, the space is unified with its setting,” Nicola says.

From each part of this dwelling, the presence of the other is viewed through the styles of its time — a fitting reminder of the home’s story.

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HOME + Dulux

Dulux Franz Josef Quarter

Dulux Franz Josef Quarter

Tonal synergy

Dulux Ōkārito

DESIGN:17

From magnificent gardens and beneath the entangled boughs of a mature pōhutukawa tree, Callerton House is a place of dynamic juxtapositions — old and new, light and dark, large and small, ornate and utilitarian.

Within these dynamics are tones that elegantly link two divergent forms.

The exterior offers an introduction to the hues of the interior: here, two forms are conceived as equal parts of a new whole. The roof of the original 1900s villa is in keeping with that of the addition in terms of its grey tones, and the weatherboards are painted in Dulux Franz Josef Quarter, while the more contemporary standing seam roofing of the addition meets the warmth of vertical oiled cedar – a conscious deparr ture from the horizontal white weatherboards of its counterpart.

Extensive glazing on the addition allows s for sightlines from the exterior into the heart of the kitc chen where the grey tones of the exterior continue. Herre, cedar lines the walls and roof and minimal detailing creates a pared back aesthetic of textural dep pth.

The kitchen cabinetry is also painted in Du ulux Franz Josef Quarter, a silvery warm grey with subtle gre een undertones, reaffirming the sense of warmth in th his space.

Dulux and Colours of New Zealand are registered trademarks of DuluxGroup (Australia) Pty Ltd. Due to the limitations of the printing process, printed images and swatches may not represent the true colour. Always confirm your final colour choice with a Dulux Sample Pot.

Paired with the rich grey-green of the Trillium stone island benchtop, and the slightly deeperr grey of three perforated pendants hanging above it, the space is one of considered tones: there’s an alluring elegance at play here defined by colour and texture.

For more popular colours from the Dulux Colours of New Zealand range, visit dulux.co.nz H O M EM AGA ZI N E. NZ

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Black, white Words Katie Delany Photography David Straight DESIGN:18

On a busy corner site in suburban Auckland, a kitchen of contrasts is designed in cohesion with the original home.

This house was once a landmark, a blueprint in Greenlane for the emergence of familiar villas coated in white stucco with terracotta-tiled roofs. Since its construction in 1945, the house has seen few iterations; once as the home of the American ambassador, then housing a single family for almost half a century. During all this time, the house remained relatively untouched.

For a young couple relocating to New Zealand after living in the UK, the traditional villa had a welcome appeal.

“The home was run down,” shares Daniel Zhu of Z Architecture Republic. “There was little connection between each of the rooms, the living spaces, and the outdoors. I found that I had two options: either create a new form in contrast to the existing architecture or design an extension that complements the historic nature of the home. We chose the latter.”

This extension was one of Daniel’s first projects since the launch of his own architecture firm. Having worked at Patterson Associates since his university days, he evinces certain stylistic qualities here, perhaps inherited from his former boss Andrew Patterson.

“The strategy here was to alter the original home as little as possible, and use the bulk of the budget for the 80 square metre extension,” says Daniel. “The original house informed the materiality and form of the design while ensuring a synergy between the two.”

The transition from existing house to extension follows the linear topography of the site, stepping down timber stairs on to the speckled polished concrete floor of the open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area. The juxtaposition meets a myriad of further contrasts: black and white, antique and modern.

“A sense of balance and energy has been achieved in the kitchen through a limited dark colour palette, contrasted with crisp white granite and pops of brass,” says Leonie Hamill of Cube Dentro, who collaborated with Daniel on the kitchen design.

The kitchen island, the focal point of this design, uses colour and light to distinguish function. Split into two halves, the first, in white granite lit by skylights, is designed for preparation, while the other half, in dark matte stone, acts as an extension of the dining space.

Hints of vintage are found in the island’s customised brass legs, and in the cabinetry handles and tapware — a nod to the villa’s original materiality.

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1

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Considered irregularity DESIGN:19

Create an unexpected narrative by exploring unconventional silhouettes, quirky angularity and textured materiality.

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1 — ‘Bicoca’ table lamp by Christophe Mathieu, $530 from ECC, ecc.co.nz 2 — ‘Acustica’ pendant by Fabbian, POA from Matisse, matisse.co.nz 3 — ‘Cabin’ wool blanket, $299 from Città, cittadesign.com 4 — ‘AvanTech YOU’ drawer system, POA from Hettich, designwithhettich.co.nz 5 — ‘Fried Egg Sheep’ chair by Warm Nordic, from $8675 from Good Form, goodform.co.nz

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6 — ‘Bespoke French Door’ refrigerator, POA from Samsung, samsung.com/nz 7 — ‘Insert’ side table by Ferm Living, $1385 from Slow, slowstore.co.nz 8 — ‘Monuments’ magazine holder

by Dubokk, $1139 from Simon James, simonjames.co.nz 9 — ‘Offset’ shelf by Philippe Malouin, $2720 from Resident, resident.co.nz 10 — ‘Westwood’ bench, from $1195 from Coco Republic, cocorepublic.co.nz 11 — ‘Edge’ sofa by Wendelbo, POA from Bauhaus, bauhaus.co.nz 12 — ‘Ridge’ vase by Muuto, $440 from Bauhaus, bauhaus.co.nz 13 — ‘Sol’ side table by ClassiCon, POA from Matisse, matisse.co.nz

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Vibrant winter tones: colour that pops

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Resene Toffee

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Resene Paper Doll

Resene Whizz Bang

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Choose well for your walls with Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen.

Environmental Choice– approved, vegan and low odour.

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In Detail

A deeper dive into the interior and architectural products specified by designers in this issue of HOME

A minimalist touch On the outskirts of Auckland, the sleepy town of Riverhead is quickly evolving. There’s the historic tavern, a few cafes, and the river and the forest, surroundings which hint at the palette of the rising new builds.

There are few similarities between this semi-rural Auckland landscape and that of the Queenstown suburb of Jack’s Point, yet it was the minimalist, “chalet aesthetic” which served as inspiration for this new home in Riverhead which stands as tall as the neighbouring kauri within Riverhead Forest.

“I’ve always had my eye on the natural materials used among the houses in Jack’s Point; the cedar and weatherboards really spoke to me, and I wanted to reproduce that style in a more tropical setting,” homeowner and interior designer Brandi Becker explains.

The exterior cladding is a mixture of cedar and Linea Oblique Weatherboards by James Hardie. The two materials contrast and complement; the cedar in narrow slats in its natural hue, the weatherboards are wide and painted in white, while both stand in vertical alignment to echo the contour of the forest and elongate the form.

“We wanted a bespoke design, something with flair. Being able to find exterior cladding that provided variety, and was accessible were extremely important from the beginning of the planning.

“Within a neighbourhood of new, black cedar homes, I wanted to create something unique, that both complemented the environment and fitted the individual needs of a young family,” says Brandi. After a trial of swatches in different tones of white, they finally decided on Resene Eighth Bison Hide for the Linea Oblique Weatherboards. This warm white tone

contrasts with the natural hue of the cedar, and the tall grasses planted along the edge of the house.

The result is a minimalist, modern aesthetic. “On a streetscape of familiar builds, this home stands out.

I feel we found the balance of accomplishing a home with a unique flair, without feeling too extravagant.”

Inside, the natural colour and material palette continues. Warm hardwood floors are juxtaposed with white walls coated in Resene Sea Fog. There are pops of colour, referencing the landscape beyond.

“The exterior reflects the brightness of the interior. There’s consistency and simplicity, a modern touch within the natural setting.”

Discover more at jameshardie.co.nz

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Riverhead House

Dryden WoodMaster

Dryden WoodOil Slate @drydenwoodoil

Slate

dryden.co.nz

@drydenwoodoil dryden.co.nz

Island abode On the islands surrounding Auckland, there’s a

bach housing the living area and three bedrooms is

remarkable sense of stillness — a feeling of being

oiled with Dryden WoodMaster Slate, a sandy tone

far removed from the hustle and bustle of city

that works in perfect harmony with the hues of the

life. There’s distinctive flora and fauna, and the

wetland and coastal dunes.

omnipresent sound of the waves rolling onto sandy beaches that meet native bush.

It is on land such as this that feels almost

To differentiate the two-storeyed part of the structure, it is oiled with Dryden WoodOil Slate, alluding to the dark rock present in the wider

untouched where architect Jeremy Chapman of JCA

surrounds, and specifically the well known rock on

Studio got to work on the drawing board designing

local Medlands Beach from which this house takes

a home of nuanced connections — united by colour

its name — Memory Rock.

and materiality.

Here on Great Barrier Island, the colours of the landscape are at once muted and vibrant. There’s a

As Jeremy puts it: “The striation of a beach is the metaphor we used for material and colour … if there was any confusion we’d go back to the metaphor.”

sense of permanence in the rocks and native bush, and a transience with the wetlands, ebb and flow of the tides and the dunes.

Clad in cedar, this house is devised as a sum of connected parts. The cedar is used in several different formats, the differentiation is subtle as are the tonal changes. The central wing of this

dryden.co.nz @drydenwoodoil

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Memory Rock

Memory Rock Simon James If there was ever a doubt that, in architecture, context can be an incredibly rich source of inspiration and of symbolically grounding a structure, JCA Studio’s Memory Rock house on Great Barrier Island can put that argument to rest.

This issue’s cover home is inspired by the

There was also the need to bring the coastal vibe into a home of significant comfort and style, and the owner and designer opted for subtle elegance — beachy and quintessentially New Zealand, yet suffused with a laid-back sophistication.

The Cameron Foggo–designed Journal coffee table, with its slender proportions, fits perfectly here, while the Nonn sofas exude a serene elegance with a touch of mid-century nostalgia. Within these

topography of the nearby Medlands Beach, so much

pieces, Simon James’ Fragment collection — which

so that its two-storeyed form was thought of as a

is deeply inspired by modernist architecture’s

subtle echo of Memory Rock, an almost sculptural

cantilevers and linear geometries — reflects JCA

outcrop at the centre of the beach.

Studio’s home beautifully. The rectangular solidity of

To further cement this connection to place, the

the Fragment seems almost like a bespoke choice

impeccable furniture selection from Simon James

for a house that boasts a strong, almost pavilion-like

— its materiality, colours, and forms — became

form on the ground floor.

crucial to maintaining that metaphor and stitching its narrative to the surroundings.

Take, for instance, the colour palette used on

From the wide architectural gestures to the immaculate furniture choices, this Home of the Year 2022 finalist ticks many boxes.

these pieces: Colourwash fog, fossil, oak, charcoal, black ash, tundra grey, buff — the names alone, much like their textures and hues, evoke locality and coastal wonderland. They bring out images of flotsam and jetsam, of small bits of wood or stones rounded and softened by tides and sand, of a cohesive coastal scene.

The home’s designer, Jeremy Chapman, agrees: “We worked through a million different colour and material selections during the project, and, if there was any confusion, we’d go back to the [beach] metaphor, and that helped to inform every material we chose.”

simonjames.co.nz

Paetawa House Above Plumbline’s Buddy Collection was used in the Paetawa home by Andrew Sexton. It was finished in Aged Brass, an organic colour that reflects some of the dunescape tonalities of its context and that, much like the home’s timber facade, will age gracefully in its coastal environment. Its usage in kitchen and bathrooms complements the strong architectural gestures of the home’s first floor

Memory Rock

A Touch of Subtle Elegance In product design, elegance comes from simplicity, and simplicity is often a result of considered and thorough design thinking.

This is the case with Plumbline’s slick and well-proportioned Buddy and Oli 316 collections for kitchens and bathrooms; two ranges that embody subtle elegance through balance of materials and shapes.

Crafted in Italy, the Oli Collection is versatile and hard-wearing — made of the highest grade 316 stainless steel. Its design inspirations seem to range from the streamlined and modern elegance of the Kitchen Mixer Straight Spout through to the Round Slide Shower, which boasts a touch of vintage elegance in an entirely contemporary product. The Oli 316 is available in brushed stainless steel and three brushed PVD finishes: brass, gunmetal, and copper. The PVD treatment means the colours and metal remain unaltered and highly resistant.

The Buddy Collection — made in the picturesque home of the best tapware specialists in the world: Italy’s Lake Orta district — offers a somewhat more architectural design; pronounced angles with a touch of ‘industrial’ while still keeping a firm foothold in the comforts of home. The range is available in 12 stunning finishes that vary from shine through to organic. The organic is expected to patina and age, giving the product a feel of rustic beauty that adds honesty and timelessness to any interior. plumbline.co.nz

Above At Memory Rock House by JCA Studio — featured in the Houses section of this issue — the designer used a variety of Plumbline Oli 316 in bathrooms and kitchen. The robustness of the materials and the highly tactile finishes mean the products feel right at home in a high-end yet relaxed coastal setting

Simon James Isabella Chair simonjames.co.nz @simonjamesstore

Plumbline Oli 316 Kitchen Mixer plumbline.co.nz @plumblinenz

Tasselled Wool Rug in Marl Grey nodirugs.com @nodirugs

Ponsonby House

Nodi Rugs

Nodi Rugs Woollen Basket Weave Rug nodirugs.com @nodirugs

Citta Radial Stool Oak/Black cittadesign.com @citta

QBS Construction qbsconstruction.co.nz

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@qbsit

Memory Rock

Dryden WoodOil Slate dryden.co.nz @drydenwoodoil

Dryden WoodMaster Slate @drydenwoodoil dryden.co.nz

Simon James

Thread Design

Parallel Chair Leather

Altitude 50*50 Cushion

simonjames.co.nz

threaddesign.co.nz

@simonjamesstore

@threaddesign_nz

Simon James Fragment Coffee Table simonjames.co.nz @simonjamesstore

Parnell House Kouzina Miele Oven kouzina.co.nz @kouzina_appliances

Kouzina Subzero Fridge Integrated kouzina.co.nz @kouzina_appliances

Cult Design

Cult Design

Palissade Lounge

Palissade Ottoman

Chair Low

cultdesign.co.nz

cultdesign.co.nz

@cultdesignnz

@cultdesignnz

Studio Italia Flexform Campiello modular sofa studioitalia.co.nz @studioitalia

H O M EM AGA ZI N E. NZ

Paetawa House Dryden WoodOil

APT

Ironsand

Corian Benchtop Deep Nocturne

dryden.co.nz

aptinnovation.co.nz

@drydenwoodoil

@aptinnovation

Warmington Nouveau Outdoor Open warmington.co.nz

Plumbline Buddy Wall Mount Mixer Aged Brass plumbline.co.nz @plumblinenz

@warmingtonnz

Industria Textil Cia Hering, Historical Square, Blumenau, SC by Hans Broos

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Homes / 81

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On Great Barrier Island, an off-the-grid bach mimics the forms found on nearby Medlands Beach

Country scenes

An outlandish and cinematic rural family home in Tai Tapu designed for multiple generations

Light above the dunes

A home for one is designed for a site that occupies the highest contour of a Kāpiti Coast sand dune

Let it breathe

Around a compact courtyard, a gabled addition to a villa floats effortlessly above a grounded lower level

Painting in layers

A well-mannered oasis in Parnell with a delightful slow reveal offers the perfect suburban backdrop

H

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Memory rock

Memory Rock

On Great Barrier Island, this off-the-grid bach mimics the form of a well-known rock on nearby Medlands Beach.

Words Kirsten Matthew Photography David Straight

A dozen years ago, Jeremy Chapman was building a shed on Great Barrier Island when he fell into conversation with the owner. One day, the owner said, he would build a house on the section. One day, Chapman replied, he would be an architect rather than a student with a part-time job building sheds.

You know where this is going. Fast forward more than a decade and Chapman, founder of JCA Studio, got a call from the owner. The shed had housed the family of four on their summer holidays for many years, but it was time to build a house. The result is a 225m² off-the-grid structure, just a stone’s throw from Medlands Beach, that is quietly confident and inconspicuously elegant. It stretches across a double section bordered by a reserve on one side and a Department of Conservation wetland at the back.

Inspired by the topography of the nearby shoreline, it has a low, long form. Memory Rock, the outcrop that protrudes from the centre of the beach, informs the two-storey structure at the front of the residence.

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Right The edge of the landscaping has been left organic, to anchor the house to site in a natural way

“When he first showed me the drawings, I immediately thought, ‘Oh wow, it reminds me of Medlands and our bedroom is like Memory Rock’,” says one of the owners. “It spoke to me that he knew the section and understood how everything worked.”

There’s no front door to the house, no real entryway at all, and almost all of the rooms, excluding the bathrooms and two smaller bedrooms, open up to the elements. That’s intended to “dissolve the line between interior and exterior”, Chapman says. “The space planning isn’t too fussy and we haven’t tried to be overly clever. I do like to abstract and exaggerate to add another level of interest, so here, proportionately, the length of the building is exaggerated.”

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Cedar runs across the outdoor soffits, and inside the same materials and hues are carried through to further anchor the home to its surroundings

Above Deep eaves shelter the decks from sun and rain

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The house is clad in cedar but in several different ways. The long wing that houses three bedrooms and the living areas is clad in broad panels coated with Dryden in Slate; they’re sandy in tone, but also match the silvery bulrushes in the wetland and the minerality and exposed nature of the coastal site. At the centre of the wing, one exterior wall features thinner and thicker strips mixed together. Narrower cladding on the doubleheight ‘outcrop’ was applied vertically by John Scott of Great Barrier Building Company, and is oiled in Dryden’s Midnight to mirror the dark rock.

Cedar runs across the outdoor soffits, and inside the same materials and hues are carried through to further anchor the home to its surroundings. The stud height is 2.4 metres on the ground floor — no higher because “it’s a beach house and it didn’t need to be any bigger”, explains Chapman. The interior ceilings are cedar lined, and in the bedrooms the cedar runs down the walls behind the beds, doing away with the need for headboards.

Top Deep eaves shelter the deck from sun and rain, which enables the sliding doors to be open as much as possible

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Left Cedar runs across the ceiling and soffits meeting vertical cedar cladding – further anchoring the house to site and surrounds

Above The kitchen is dark and moody, a recessive element within the lighter tones of the timber flooring and cedar-lined ceiling.

Osso chairs and stools are from Simon James; tapware is from the Oli range by Plumbline

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“You can’t be too precious about people coming and sitting on something when they’re sandy or wet”

This is not a shiny house for shiny people. The high-end finishes are considered and beautiful, as are the interiors. Furniture from Simon James in greys, beige and other smokey hues, and draperies and bed linens in earthy tones work beautifully with the rural setting.

“I wanted really down-to-earth, natural colours that won’t have to be replaced because they date,” says the owner, who took care of the interior design. “It is a bach, so it needs to be functional as well as look good. You can’t be too precious about people coming and sitting on something when they’re sandy or wet.”

The house does have a little sparkle in its own, low-key way. Chapman has infused elements of the beach into the materiality. Textured Glimmerputz walls — made from marble powder, mica gold stones and local sand — shimmer as light falls on them. APL joinery is coated in Electro Dark Bronze and also has a twinkle.

The doors feature custom-made hardware, hand cast by Blacksand Bronze on Waiheke Island; sand was added to the metal for a textured finish and feel.

“The metaphor of the beach, and its eddying or receding, is very important,” explains Chapman.

“The colour talks to the striation of what a beach would be; the layers of time. We worked through a million different colour and material selections during the project and, if there was any confusion, we’d go back to the metaphor and that helped to inform every material we chose.”

Opposite Ceiling fans keep the bedrooms cool and the mozzies from the neighbouring wetland at bay. The Parallel Chair, designed by Simon James, is upholstered in Pelle leather from Ascona

Above In the master bath, tiles in both mosaic and large squares add sandy texture and geometric interest to the room; tapware is from the Oli range by Plumbline, the Premium 55 Basin is also from Plumbline

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The private adults’ quarters at the front are linked to the rest of the house by a glass corridor that can be opened up on both sides. A square, serene sitting area on the ground level is furnished with Simon James leather chairs, shelving filled with the owners' beloved books, and an impressive custom-made steel and oak staircase that leads to a cosy master bedroom and bathroom at the top.

“It’s a transitional space,” Chapman says of the stairway. “Yes, it’s a stair, but it’s a space on its own. As you come up, you get a sense of enclosure that you don’t get anywhere else in this house. You feel more protected.”

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Above The outdoor living areas are artfully blended with the interior with carfeul material considerations, screens and points of shelter. The Liaison Sofas are from Nonn and available from Simon James Right The house is clad in cedar used multiple ways, including thinner and thicker strips mixed together. The outdoor shower from Plumbline's Coastline range offers the perfect transition between beach and house

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And you get incredible views of the ocean, thanks to a glass balustrade that allows unimpeded vistas from the bed. Swanky strip lighting runs around the ceiling, creating a sultry glow around the room.

On the outside, thick metal shrouds frame the upper level windows, so they can be opened in a storm. It’s this part of the house that one of the owners loves the most. “It’s really lovely on a stormy day, to read in the room below the master bedroom,” she says. “On a beautiful day you can open it all up and have the breeze come through.”

“I love the proportions of the upper level; there’s an exaggerated awkwardness to it,” says Chapman. “But I most love the open end of the house, with the outdoor fire. The decks are designed so you can sit on the edge, have a beer, and just look at the view and the sunset.”

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Memory Rock Medlands Beach, Great Barrier Island JCA Studio

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Kitchen Dining Living Outdoor Living Laundry Bathroom Bedroom Lounge Master suite Wardrobe Ensuite

Duux Narrow Neck

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Dryden Sate

Dryden Midnight

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Country scenes

This rural Canterbury home designed by Bull O’Sullivan pushes boundaries while verging on the cinematic.

Words Federico Monsalve Photography Patrick Reynolds

Exterior: Vast rural landscape/ Canterbury Plains/daytime A retired couple — Dave, 67, a former plumber, and Christine, 66, a retired teacher — hoping to downsize their current living arrangements, discuss a simpler lifestyle: “A kitchenette, a bathroom, and an adjacent bedroom, all built above a barn,” according to their daughter, Bridie, who disagreed with such a spartan way of living.

Dave had recently been diagnosed with a serious illness so Bridie decided to move her family — her partner and three young children — from their large villa in the Wellington hills to the farming plains of Canterbury, where she grew up, to be closer to her folks, and where her own children might forge some memories by their grandparents’ side.

A brief for a house was devised — one that was “more about the way we want to live than just about ‘we must have a pantry with the scullery’. It was more like: we don’t want a box; we want something that’s thoughtful. We don’t want really high spec as this is not a show home. We don’t want it to be too big. We’re on a budget, but it has to be considered and hard working,” according to Bridie.

The ‘multigenerational’ word popped up but with parameters of independence. The two families have to have their own space where they can retreat to, away from the noise and the kids.”

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Above This multigenerational home is an elongated shape clad on shiny corrugate and with very distinct material allusions to its rural context. The home’s interior, however, is entirely timber clad

Opposite Vibrant colours on the external structural steel beams add a touch of playfulness, which is continued throughout the home. Dave sits by the 80m lawn, which is often used for sport

Top The car parking and storage area acts as a divider between the two, nearly identical living wings; one for the grandparents and the other for the rest of the family Above The curvature of the facade was devised, in part, as a way to hide tall, floodsafety foundations required of houses in some areas of the Canterbury plains

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Opposite The interior has been treated almost like a piece of cabinetry with storage spaces, reading benches and desks inbuilt diretcly onto the structure of the house. A base palette of playful yellow runs throughout the interior

Enter the architect: an imposing Michael O’Sullivan (of Bull O’Sullivan), award-winning wrestler with a crushing handshake but a disarmingly friendly disposition, whose immediate reaction, according to Bridie, was, “Oh god, no, no, no. You can do something so much more interesting than that!”

“We met with a lot of architects and we got on really well with him,” continues Bridie. “He was really flexible in a way that sometimes architects cannot be. Lots of them have really rigid design/build phases, and then project management requirements with project management fees that go with that. And all of a sudden, you’re looking at a really big, scary number. Michael was happy to work on a more flexible basis than that, and he really understood what we were trying to do.”

Or … did he?

The architect’s initial designs were presented in what were described as abstract, somewhat conceptual drawings.

“They were fairly lucid watercolours,” says the architect while showing some impeccable 1:50 and 1:200 models that hang proudly on the walls of his Lyttelton studio. “It was about trying to ensure an even distribution of sun for everyone in the family,” he says, “because from May until around September the weather can be quite miserable.”

Grandma Christine (after seeing the first drawings): “I did do a double take on it, that’s for sure. I’m not saying I didn’t like that. I’m saying it was, ‘Wow, look at what he’s come up with’.”

Rob (68, semi-retired builder, Dave’s mate): “That will be challenging — I’d better speak to Dave.”

Dave: “You are bloody joking!”

[FADE TO BLACK]

This page Glazing on to the lawn was important for keeping an eye on the young children as well as for light penetration into a geometric shape that could have been relatively dark. The curved lip of the cylindrical form overhangs the deck to provide added shelter

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This is the part of the film during which, in a time lapse of several weeks condensed into a few minutes, the family find their previously held notions about houses and cohabitation shaken by the affable wrestler.

“I don’t know what houses are meant to look like,” says the architect, and little by little, the family starts to ask: why does a house have to look like a ‘House’ and not like this — a building that many people have compared to a milking shed for living, a stylised train station, a ship, or even a repurposed blade from an enormous wind turbine?

If this was Hollywood, the soundtrack would turn hopeful here; something between Chariots of Fire and the infamous tune that accompanied Sylvester Stallone’s training sessions in Rocky. Grandpa Dave now wants to project manage this thing; his mate Rob is all in and wants to spearhead its construction.

Enter the first antagonist: resource consent calls for these types of rural homes to be sitting well above the ground in preparation for a once-in-200-years potential flood. Yet there is not much appetite here for a structure that sits on stilts, seven metres above the ground as jurisprudence demands. The curvature of the facade was in part made to hide these flood stilettos.

Right Materials for the bathrooms and kitchen were chosen for robustness and durability. One of the owners said, as part of the brief: “We don’t want really high spec as this is not a show home”

Also, Michael designed the parents’ wing as 138 square metres at a time when resource consent requirements allowed only 70 square metres for a second dwelling on a rural property. He becomes impassioned when talking about the need for councils to understand different ways of cohabitation and creating policy that reflects that.

“We submitted plans to council and they said, ‘You have to take a kitchen out, make it one building, or have a communal kitchen,’” recalls Bridie, who, in one of the highlights of this architectural courtroom drama, asks, “Why should we limit our older generations to living in tiny shoeboxes?”

This is a very poignant question that — although rules about second dwellings have and continue to evolve — remains quite valid to properly regulate and motivate multigenerational dwellings and the closer family bonds they can instigate.

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Above The grandparents’ wing is a near-mirror of the children’s one with only a few square metres’ difference Left The builders created all inbuilt furniture pieces including this bunk bed and adjacent wardrobe Below Wall-mounted radiators imported from England have been powder-coated to maintain cohesiveness throughout the home

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Above Although there is significant transparency within each of the two homes, the insertion of the kitchen helps break up the volume and offer pockets of privacy

After a few battles, and thanks to a forward-thinking bureaucrat, the house was allowed to go ahead — a long, shiny structure that is part rural vernacular, a touch Glenn Murcutt (although the architect disagrees, saying “Glenn would have put a bridge in it somewhere”), and Bull O’Sullivan at its best: daring and unapologetically unique.

Dave and his builder buddy Rob vowed to build the entire thing themselves.

Rob’s reasoning: “The biggest thing was building it on a budget. Without being here to keep an eye on things, it could have gotten out of control — and I couldn’t leave Dave to do it on his own.”

Despite its other-worldly shape, and aside from complications with the steel portal manufacturing, the construction itself is said not to be overly complicated.

“It is all steel purlins and curved steel beams and portals,” says Bridie. “We wanted something simple,

and we’ve got this! But actually the fabrication and the construction of it were, in theory, quite straightforward.”

Surely not straightforward for a tiny team of two — did they ever think they’d bitten off more than they could chew?

“Yes, as soon as we drove the first peg in,” says Dave.

Rob: “Setting out the foundations was complex.

Thinking of how to finish the doors and windows without reveals and skirting was challenging. The necessity for attention to detail challenged us.”

Here, perhaps, would be a good place for a montage.

It took 24 months of pretty solid work, rain and shine, 7.15am to 5pm, five days a week.

Dave had a shoulder replacement prior to the build starting in 2018, and his hip was replaced towards the end of 2019. He took the Christmas break and was back on the tools by January.

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A filmic shot of first arrival would pan across kauri ply on the walls, kwila on the deck outside, rimu on inbuilt desktops; all the warmth of timbers matched perfectly to playful colour palettes of sweet corn and pastels on exterior columns, furniture, lighting, and even radiators and woodburner. Objects and sporadic art pieces have been selected with confidence and an eye for craftsmanship, usually from independent makers. The film’s art director is happy.

“It is a Wes Anderson kind of thing,” jokes the architect to the interviewer after being told the whole thing feels like a film script. “It would be great if you can put an Isle of Dogs or Fantastic Mr Fox thing running through the article — ideally running east to west, please!”

By this stage of the screening, movie critics might call this a family saga, with two men in their mid-60s — driven by their sense of family loyalty and a love for the land — making something that for most of us would be impossible. Others might say it is about old, slowly disappearing traditions that saw fathers and grandparents building their own houses, usually in simple ways that defined the local vernacular throughout rural and coastal New Zealand.

Above The home appears as if on a podium with amphitheatrestyled stairs leading onto the lawn. The juxtaposition of cold-coloured exterior corrugate and warm interior timbers accentuates the sense of cosiness inside

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Opposite One of the most challenging aspects of the build was “thinking of how to finish the doors and windows without reveals and skirting”, according to one of the builders

There are two possible endings, depending on genre: Ending one — for a comedy-drama: Dave and Rob are asked about their post-build impressions: Interviewer: “How does it feel?”

Rob: “It feels bloody good. It feels right to live here.

It fulfils the goal we set out to achieve.”

Dave: “It’s stunning.”

Interviewer: “Would you do it again?”

Rob and Dave, in unison: “No!” Ending two — feel-good family saga: The grandparents, Christine and Dave, are sitting on the deck, the 80m grassy lawn in front of them. Their grandkids — Finn, 7, Edie, 5, and Gus, 2 — and Bridie and her partner are running around playing a childish version of rugby.

“Hockey,” Grandma Christine corrects the interviewer, “we are a hockey family.”

There is an unspoken feeling of mutual appreciation for a task well crafted. The camera slowly pans upwards, towards one of those incandescent Canterbury sunsets.

In the distance, a lonesome harrier, its wings in V formation, ebbs slowly across the sky.

The scene fades to white.

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Light above the dunes

Although this Kapiti Coast home for one

by Andrew Sexton Architecture is compact, it delivers a multitude of experiences and connections to nature, as well as grand and detailed architectural gestures.

Words Federico Monsalve Photography Thomas Seear-Budd

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An hour’s drive north of Wellington, Peka Peka on the Kapiti Coast, is one of those tiny little beachside suburbs full of rolling sand dunes and the regular sound of waves and lawnmowers. A small main road leads to even smaller arteries that feed vacationers and fishing boat-hauling blokes in and out of the Tasman surf.

On any given day, someone will remind you that it was here, over a decade ago, that an emperor penguin known as Happy Feet landed after a swim of around 3000km from Antarctica. Yet, although the news nowadays is less bombastic, it still retains that wholesome tone heard in so many small coastal towns. The recent regional weeklies often lead with culture pieces (ceramic kiln restorations, literary and sporting successes of the locals), as well as celebrating conservation and charity efforts or major infrastructure projects.

“It’s pretty rural,” confesses Fay Beyer, who has had a holiday residence on this site for many years but recently hired an architect with a house nearby, Andrew Sexton, to design her a more permanent home in which to retire on the highest contour of a sand dune a few hundred metres from the sea.

“She wanted a relatively small house,” says Andrew, “just two bedrooms, but one purely designed around her, which was really lovely and [it was] refreshing just to be able to focus on one person’s needs. She gave us a fairly open sort of brief in terms of what she was after.”

“I love privacy, and I love the sea,” says Fay, also talking about her passion for design. “I am a draughtswoman and interior designer from way back. I have been on design boards and had a lot of commissions.” She mentions that two of the main reasons for engaging Andrew’s services were that one of his houses is one of the best she has ever seen in New Zealand and the fact that he is “a great listener”.

Opposite page The house, clad in cedar using Dryden Ironsand, has been built on the highest contour of a sand dune a few hundred metres or so from Peka Peka Beach. Carex grasses, bushes, and toetoe dot the surrounding coastal landscape This page The steep incline bordering the home was initially designed to include a lap pool.

A recessed balcony from the main bedroom provides privacy and ventilation during the summer months

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Above The interior was designed by the owner and includes a collection of eclectic design influences such as Philippe Stark’s Ghost chairs. A snug room with a wall that does not reach the ceiling traps light from nearby clerestory windows

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Opposite The kitchen, like much of the interior, opts for dark tones. The Corian countertop is

by APT Innovation. Stair detailing includes a vertical timber screen

There were initially some fears about placing the house on a high dune ridge so close to the wind paths coming from the sea. “I’m on the highest contour on Peka Peka beach,” she says, remembering that the site had the potential to see “fabulous sunrises and the sea beyond”.

One of the initial architectural moves was solidity, to contrast with the perpetual, granulated flow of sand and wind. “The concrete plinth was conceived with the idea of setting the house into the dune as something robust,” says the architect of the in situ concrete base and outdoor fireplace, which were poured in approximately one-metre-wide layers to create extra texture. “On top of that plinth, we set up this oiled cedar box which is expected to age and weather.”

The contour and elongation of the dune dictated the relatively narrow, rectangular form of the house, and the architect also played with various aspects of what could have been a fairly standard, boxy geometry. “You can start to see something that appears almost like a gable with twisted roof form,” he says, “so it’s all made out of straight rafters, but twisted up at one end and then twisted down at the other. So it’s sort of a parabola.”

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“It’s an amazing shoebox shape,” says Fay, “where the top left inside and the bottom right-hand side have been twisted.” Almost every window of the house is different, she says, praising a construction team that would have some difficulties here.

“From a technical perspective, one of the challenges was trying to get the water off the roof without spouting!” says the architect, pointing out the two posts on the outdoor entertaining area: “one of those is structural, and the other one is actually a downpipe.”

Besides adding an element of dynamism to the building, this twisted roof form, alongside carefully placed glazing, allows the occupants to enjoy different qualities of natural light as well as provide layers of privacy.

“You give them really wonderful sunsets, while, in their south-west corner where the roof was tilted up on a corner to get a high window, there where the late afternoon sun gets quite a low wash right through that snug space,” says Andrew.

The main bedroom has been recessed into the building with a small balcony area (again, for privacy), which allows the owner to leave the windows wide open during the hot months.

“I wake up and see the sunrise,” Fay says. “I see the sunsets, and, when I’m lying in bed and all the windows go from floor to ceiling, I can just sort of see the whole universe!”

These pages The architect describes the form as a “parabola”, where one end of the house has been twisted upwards to maximise shelter and views of the sea and sunsets. In situ poured concrete has striations 1m apart to create extra texture and reflect the horizontality of the views

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The toetoe are in full bloom, and, nearby, skinnylegged kānuka trees have been forced to grow in sharp angles by the force of the prevailing winds.

Carex grass and the tangled, spiky branches of the matagouri offer a landscape that is both static and shifting, alluring yet somewhat foreboding.

The interior of the house has been a labour of love for the owner herself. A mixture of black walls and explosive colours. She describes her taste as eclectic and talks of chairs that have been painted by artists. Walls of full colour and Philippe Stark Ghost chairs somewhere in the mix.

The downstairs is purely practical: garaging for two (in tandem), a lift, and staircases that taper in and out playing with compression and expansion into

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the main living area on the first floor. And a floor plan that, although relatively compact (about 6x6m), has been conceived to “offer different places to go into at different moments of the day and with different people,” according to Andrew.

This house is also about beautiful details — for instance, a dressing room with a sheer curtain, and the staircase handrail, which finishes on an elegant taper.

“It’s just a timber dowel with just the last sort of 300mm sliced off it. So, at the end, you see a semicircle rather than a full circle,” offers Andrew. He recalls having used this detail first in his brother’s own home, and the design element has resonated so much that it has become something of a trademark for his firm.

Opposite Handrail detailing: the circular dowel has had 300mm shaved off the end into a taper.

Besides aesthetics, it provides a tactile wayfinding element for those coming down the stairs This page Bathroom detail.

Surface patterning echoes the dunescape around the house.

The fittings, Plumbline Buddy bathroom tapware, have an organic finish that is meant to patina with age while remaining highly robust and durable

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So, what does the owner see as the greatest success of this project? “On one hand, experiencing solitude and calm, but also to embrace and share with family, the interior space opens to outdoor living and [is] a great space to entertain and can accommodate extra family.

“Meeting Andrew and believing in his vision … has delivered a home beyond my dreams.”

This page The owner of this house loves privacy and the ocean, and many of the design decisions were made to reflect this. Sunset and stargazing influenced the windows, with minimal frames and joinery

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Above The designer avoided spouting to maintain the clean linearity of the roof

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Paetawa House Kapiti Coast Andrew Sexton Architecture

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Entrance Garage Lift Ha Kitchen Dining Living Snug Bedroom Bathroom WC Laundry Covered deck Dressing room

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Let it breathe

In Ponsonby, a villa is extended around a compact central courtyard linking old and new, while a gabled addition floats effortlessly above a grounded lower level.

Words Clare Chapman Images David Straight Styling Amelia Holmes

The courtyard house has long been a feature of global architecture, spanning continents and cultures over the centuries, while in New Zealand the notion has played a part in defining the way many residential buildings have been considered.

However, far from the traditional concept of large houses with rooms planned around often extensive inner courtyards, the contemporary iterations being explored in our cities often incorporate much smaller enclosed outdoor spaces — reminiscent perhaps of the Japanese tsubo-niwa, a very compact internal courtyard garden that traditionally measures the size of a couple of tatami mats.

This ‘courtyard house’ in Ponsonby by Matter Architects is in good company, with its roots firmly planted in the architectural heritage of the Asia Pacific region. One part villa, one part floating gable, in this house space — or lack thereof — is seen as an opportunity rather than a constraint.

Here, the integration of a central courtyard — albeit a very compact one — became the defining feature of a clever renovation, allowing the original villa to breathe, drawing parallels and juxtapositions between old and new, and reinvigorating a dated plan with contemporary consideration.

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This spread A split-level addition was devised to make the most of the tight site; the stair and adjacent courtyard becoming the transitional space between old and new

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Located on a street where scores of villas stand side by side, harmoniously ornate in arrangement, this house is one of many of similar footprint and form. On a slight ridge, the land below drops away slowly to meet the often calm waters of Coxs Bay, which is protected by one of the longest lava flows in Auckland — the 2km reef, Te Tokoroa. When architect Jon Smith first visited the site, he stood on the roof of the existing house. From that vantage point, it was the long view down to the bay and beyond that caught his attention.

“What we found standing on the roof was that the house is at the top of this little valley. All the villas on this side of the road address the street but then they flow out into these beautiful little garden spaces to the north. So there were a couple of things at play here:

capturing that long view to create a sense of space and freedom, and creating a connection to the garden and wider context.”

Jon’s clients, a couple with two teenage children, had lived in the house since about 2009 and had made do with a 1980s lean-to addition that was in need of repair.

“It was a bulky form that didn’t let the light in, and there was limited connection to the northern garden that stepped down the site,” he explains. “These are small, tight sections so space is really important as is getting that connection to outside right.”

The solution is a sleek split-level addition — the upper level a gable of glazing and weatherboards, the lower a recessive pedestal, a grounded form that allows the upper to float gracefully above it.

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This spread What was originally an office was repurposed as a second lounge with the original fireplace as a central feature; the transitional internal courtyard allowing for sightlines and openness between old and new as well as separation when required

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Top left Greenery will eventually cover much of the outdoor seating area Left The northern garden was flattened to create better connections between inside and out Above The kitchen is defined by timber and tiles to create warmth and tactility; kitchen tapware is from the Oli range by Plumbline

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The transition between original and addition is devised as a simple courtyard, an open-air space surrounded to the south by the end of the villa, and to the north and east by the addition. Despite its modest size — 10.5 square metres — its presence creates a strong connection with the site and environment and a crucial transitional link between old and new. At the western end of the courtyard, a Japanese maple casts dappled light into the space.

What was formerly an office, now adjacent to the courtyard, has been turned into a second lounge.

“We managed to fit a new office space on the upper level and then carve in this new, second living area. It has the original fireplace in it so it’s a really nice space.

You get the feeling of where the project has come from sitting in this room, and you can look down through the

courtyard and into the new building. It gives you that possibility to reflect on the project,” Jon tells us.

By utilising the courtyard as a transitional space between old and new, Jon was able to ensure light was drawn into the original building.

“We wanted to open it up and let it breathe. It was a balancing act between getting those courtyards [there is a second service courtyard on the eastern side of the house] and getting enough outdoor living area to the north while really blending and blurring the connections.”

Blend and blur he has. The kitchen is recessed, pushed back against the southern wall of the addition, while the form is carved away to the eastern side of the kitchen creating a strong connection to decking and inbuilt seating, above which fins are beginning to be covered in creeping greenery.

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Below By designing a split-level addition, the footprint was able to be extended extensively

Opposite Upstairs, the material palette is defined by cedar-lined ceilings; the Isabella chair by Simon James offers an inviting place to sit

The transition between original and addition is devised as a simple courtyard, an open-air space surrounded to the south by the end of the villa and to the north by the new building

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Above The master en suite's white tiled walls are punctuated with timber cabinetry Opposite Sight lines are created through the internal courtyard

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“It’s the perfect spot for a morning coffee,” Jon says.

From the main lounge in the open plan addition, you can look up and through the courtyard into the second living area.

“In summer, when all the doors are open, the courtyard becomes a third living space in the centre of the house.”

Externally, the new is a different landscape from the old, “but still sympathetic with the gable form. We used weatherboards but in a different technique, removing a bit of detail from the shiplap and creating negative details around the corners”.

On the eastern elevation, a bank of louvres draws in as much light as possible while creating privacy and passive ventilation.

“It’s a beautiful suburb but the neighbours are very close so privacy is always a consideration.”

Upstairs in the master bedroom, a low window is designed to capture the long view from the bed.

“We’ve also got this immediate view of borrowed greenery from the neighbouring section, so you have a dynamic connection to near and far and a sense of being in a park-like setting from the master bedroom.”

The walls and ceiling of the master are lined in cedar, which extends out to the soffits.

“It creates a natural warmth and the light bounces off it in a lovely way. The clients wanted to feel like they were up in the treetops on the upper level and connected to the garden on the lower, and I think we’ve achieved that.”

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Ponsonby House Auckland Matter Architects

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Painting in layers

A deceptively small abode in a traditional leafy street reveals its design secrets one at a time in a layered and calm manner — a soothing residential backdrop to a dense urban environment.

Words Federico Monsalve Photography Jackie Meiring

Opposite Vertically clad in light colours, this home is described as “well mannered” and a good neighbour in its ability to blend into its context Above The garden, by Andy Hamilton, is a pivotal element of the house and many design decisions were made to highlight it

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From the outside, this house is deceivingly small. At points, it reads like two conjoined townhouses defined by the peaks of their respective roof forms: high-pitched gables that, on the upper floors, appear more like straight mansards.

“It’s a typical leafy street,” offers Andrew Patterson, the architect of this Parnell house, “in a very traditional street in New Zealand. We just wanted it to look really good in context, and it’s very well mannered.”

Project lead, Luke Douglas of Patterson Associates Architects, concurs: “It’s a good neighbour; a tall saltbox [of] almost Gothic proportion.”

Yet, from the outside, the questions remain: is it one home or two? How exactly does one gain access? Due to its colour, it is also hard to know if it is somehow connected to, or part of, the neighbouring house. One can be taken aback by how modest this place appears at first; how uncharacteristic of an architect known for, among other things, a refreshing sense of grandeur.

Even after the access gate is found — in that thin buffer zone between fence and house — the structure seems subdued, almost quiet in its intentions.

One of the owners says that she wanted a simple “machine for living”, referring to that Le Corbusier maxim that became a cornerstone of modernist architecture.

The owner speaks of the French architect’s “functionalist vision for the future of interior design — less decoration more function”, and of a place of practicality and beauty for a family with a handful of grown kids and their increasingly nomadic ways. Their brief, she says, was in many ways quite practical: storage, the number of people who could be cooking at the same time, a laundry “big enough to leave things hanging if needed”.

The nuisances of orientation and site planning had already been tested out because the family had been living on the same site for many years — in a very different house, yet one conceived by the same architect.

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One of the owners says that she wanted a simple “machine for living”, referring to that Le Corbusier maxim that became a cornerstone of modernist architecture

Opposite From the buffer zone between the entrance gate and the house, one starts to gain a glimpse of the relationship of the home with its impressive landscaping Above Folded-steel detailing around the oversized timber joinery creates a strong juxtaposition. They help control light ingress Right From the street, the house seems modest and can be confused for a couple of townhouses defined by the gabled roof forms

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“The first house was designed when they had a very young family and lots of kids under 10. It was robust,” says Andrew. “This is a totally different one — a bit more grown up,” he continues, adding that, in the period between the first home and this one, “council zoning allowed an increase in the maximum height by a storey”, hence pushing the design to seek that ‘Gothic’ expansion towards the heavens.

Back to the tour: after crossing the main door there is a central core — a vestibule of sorts — that, in a way, synthesises many of the design elements that make this urban home particularly memorable.

It is an arrival zone that doubles as a dark-coloured preamble to a monochromatic interior. It is textural in materiality — timber to the left, oiled steel to the right — and it playfully modulates light by creating shafts that draw you in, deeper into the volume and towards a beautiful oasis of greenery, and upwards via a sculptural staircase that is capped by a large lightwell.

Opposite The view directly after entering the home, from its vestibule, is of greenery, timber, and steel. Geometry and flora work in tandem to make an impactful first impression.

The 73 Random pendant light

by Bocci adds a beautiful organic touch

Above The oiled steel staircase is a sculptural form that leads towards a large lightwell. It is slightly separated from its adjacent wall, as if it has been dropped directly from above

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“The fully fabricated steel staircase … is set off from the side walls, so it really feels like it has been dropped into the lightwell from above,” says Luke. “The steel balustrade sides were fixed on site and are raw steel with a Penetrol oiled finish. A lot of reviews of steel shop-drawings [were needed] to coordinate it all and achieve the little 10mm shadow lines and sequencing to get it into place!”

The view straight ahead from the vestibule reveals a glazed partition that helps create temperature zones and block noise from flowing into the upper floors, a 10-seater dining table surrounded by Riva chairs, a fireplace wrapped in the same steel as the staircase, and a wall of greenery on the outside.

A large portion of the spacious, open-plan dining, living, and kitchen area is surrounded by a garden designed by Andy Hamilton.

“The client got in touch and was interested in something wild and dynamic. She mentioned

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Piet Oudolf,” says Andy, referring to the Dutch landscape designer, who has become one of the world’s most recognised. “That immediately spiked my interest.”

Although the two owners are said to have wanted something distinctly different for the garden — her: something wild and highly seasonal; him: “something totally stable and structured and spacious”, according to Andy — the landscape designer found their polarity “quite fruitful and interesting”.

The result — called a Roman or Islamic ‘walled garden’ by the owner during our tour — is dynamic, eclectic, and not at odds with the usage of the space.

“It was about achieving structure and solidity to create a framework for something more ephemeral, for planting that could thrive — and create niches in terraces for variety,” says Andy.

“When establishing the matrix of evergreen, I looked for constant variety. So, when the garden is not in flower, the eye darts across textures and shades of green.”

Above Somewhere between a garden room and a conservatory, this main living area has been maximised to engage with the elements and the plants outside, while the Flexform Campiello modular sofa (from Studio Italia) offers a highly textural spot from which to enjoy it

This page One of the owner’s favourite rooms, where books, paintings, old family furnishings, objet d’art, and textured surfaces create a soothing environment within a dense urban setting

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He talks of an American plant along the north side of the garden, with the “unfortunate nickname of ‘shadbush’,” whose “leaves turn to scarlet red in autumn”.

He talks of certain hydrangeas whose flowers come out green in spring and mature to blush in summer, while, in autumn, “they go into a sort of antiquey colour — interesting hues of brown and oranges and reds”.

“Sometimes the actual enjoyment of a building comes by living in it,” explains one of the owners, her choice of words revealing a training and part-time career as a registered architect. “You can plan as best you can, but you don’t really know how it is going to be until you’re actually living in it,” she continues.

One of those ‘joys’, it seems, is rainstorms. She speaks of being surrounded by books and paintings, and the textural and soft additions of interior designer Jenny Anderson, while the garden interacts with the falling rain. Outside, a folded-steel weather cover above the pavilion-like, wrap-around glazing leading to the garden ensures that the rain stays a few metres into the green, cementing that sense of peace and quietude that suffuses this urban oasis.

“We can watch it fall from the comfort of this almost-conservatory,” says the owner. “It’s a type of architectural metaphor for the seasonal change.”

Luke says that this steel element, which is a motif throughout the exterior of the huge, first-floor timber sash windows, is “a play between the thinness of steel and the robust chunkiness of the timber detailing” — an echo, again, of the materiality on the home’s staircase.

The next floor up includes a generous laundry and the kids’ four bedrooms plus a guest room that has been turned into a TV and hang-out zone — sizeable, practical, with double-hung windows that open out onto a different view of the garden below and the canopy of a nearby pōhutukawa.

Opposite The kitchen and bathroom designer, Veryan Laity, says that, due to the kitchen’s shape (C-shaped but square and with only one wall), the danger was having too much cabinetry. Much effort went into keeping it decluttered and fresh

Left A generous and highly functional laundry room as well as spacious bathrooms were key parts of the functionality brief of this design

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“You can look out on a clear day and see forever: what’s happening with the weather or if there’s a storm coming. I can get up in the morning and see what the wind is doing”

Much like the garden outside, the house is made of, and revealed in, layers — a sort of measured unveiling of zones and design elements that is at points Chinese box in nature and origami-like in the folding of roof forms and steel elements.

The top floor is the purest expression of this: a sort of stacking of walls at varying angles, many of which hide unexpected spaces: a small exercise area, an office, an abundance of storage nooks, and a series of large windows that open out onto beautiful views of the Waitematā.

“It sort of feels like going up a tree as you go up through the house,” the owner mentions. “You sort of get another view of the garden and a different perspective.

“You can look out on a clear day and see forever: what’s happening with the weather or if there’s a storm coming. I can get up in the morning and see what the wind is doing, and you’ll see the trees moving.

“I quite like the idea of travelling through the building to get to the end of an interesting journey,” she continues.

“You’re now above the garden or in a sort of enclosed parapet. You can look at the redish rooftops,” she says, pointing also at a beautiful Marshall Cook house next door, at the comings and goings of the street, and at a city that, much like this abode, slowly reveals itself in rich, intricate layers across the horizon.

Opposite A painting of the Pa Homestead by Peter Atkinson graces the entrance to the main bedroom on the top floor Right The views from the top floor include a nearby marina, the Waitematā as well as the rooftops of other homes

H O M EM AGA ZI N E. NZ

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First floor

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L E I S U R E

Think outside the fridge.

Break the rules of colour with the Bespoke range from Samsung. Now you can choose colours like Glam Pink, Glam Navy, Cotta White and Cotta Charcoal. Create a VW\OLVK UHIULJHUDWRU WKDW UHɫHFWV \RXU XQLTXH VW\OH

*panels sold separately

Kitchens / 153 Special_ Kitchens

K

The latest design considerations, materials, products, appliances, and more.

BUDDY

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Buddy Kitchen Mixer out ut with Pull Ou ut Spray B ushed Brass Orga g nic

Add beautiful simplicity to your unique kitchen. Available in 12 finishes.

Auckland Showroom 23 Davis Crescent, Newmarket | 09 526 0136 Wellington Showroom 1 Antilles Place, Grenada Village | 04 568 9898 Available from all leading bathroom retailers.

Visit plumbline.co.nz/wheretobuy

HOME + Samsung

Bespoke home Samsung has this month released a revolutionary new product in New Zealand: a completely customisable French-door refrigerator with interchangeable panels available in a range of colours and finishes.

The Bespoke French Door Refrigerator enables New Zealanders to transform their kitchen, bringing customisation and colour with the ability to personalise their fridge to ensure that it becomes a central design feature in the heart of the home.

Part of Samsung’s Bespoke Home range, which includes a beautiful Bespoke Jet cordless stick vacuum cleaner, Air Purifier and Air Dresser to allow you to dry clean your clothes at home, the new line represents the very best of Samsung innovation, pairing customisable designs with unique technologies that together inspire entirely new ways of living.

With the Bespoke refrigerator as a centrepiece, consumers will be able to tailor their décor to complement their personal style, and select a different colour for every panel.

“The Bespoke refrigerator gives Kiwis the freedom to customise their kitchen to match their look and design aspirations,”

says Shannon Watts, Samsung New Zealand group marketing manager.

“The swift uptake of our ever-popular Frame TV has proven that Kiwis use their home design as a form of self-expression.

“The Bespoke range empowers consumers to continue doing just that, creating living spaces that truly reflect their tastes and aesthetics, while still designed with the same innovative and trusted technology Samsung is renowned for.”

Available in a four-door configuration with two finishes — glass and metal — colours include white, pink and navy, and charcoal.

samsung.com

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HOME + Studio Italia

Alea Pro: a pillar of individual solutions The latest developments in kitchen design have aligned with a general shift towards individualism in interior choices. As kitchens have rooted their function as the hub of the home, serving purposes from cooking to socialising, they are required not only to perform but also to reflect the character of those who live within.

Poliform, the Italian brand synonymous with luxurious

Glass display units with wooden interiors help to

and innovative kitchen solutions, has redesigned

form dedicated spaces, create plays of transparency

their long-standing model Alea.

and give rhythm to the composition.

Alea Pro is characterized by the most marked

The new deep shaker system offers new finishes

details and expressiveness, whilst at the same time

and can be equipped with a wide range of additional

maintaining a commitment to the linear design of the

storage accessories designed to enhance the ease

original collection.

and joy of the everyday chef.

Reinterpreted and redefined, Alea Pro presents

After 20 years of success, the latest iteration

a door with a chamfered metal upper edge

of Alea is a testament to elegant, bespoke kitchen

matched with metal vertical and horizontal opening

solutions by Poliform.

profiles, making this kitchen highly operational and contemporary. An infinite range of finishes are on offer, ranging from prized woods, new stone and glass doors, metals, and high-performing laminates, allowing for a tailored solution for any kitchen.

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studioitalia.co.nz

Create one aesthetic statement.

Gaggenau appliances: individually accomplished, exceptional together.

The difference is Gaggenau. gaggenau.co.nz

HOME + Nicola Manning Design

A tailored solution With a career in interior design spanning two decades, Nicola Manning has had proven success in the industry. Over this time, trends have come and gone, but her ethos of finding bespoke solutions for each of her clients has remained unchanged.

Today, the concept of trends is no longer as relevant in kitchen design.

much more time in our homes over

Due to the influence of social media,

the last few years, more people have

Nicola’s clients are becoming more

understood the importance of having

aware of the myriad of solutions,

spaces that work well.”

materials and finishes available, and finding designs that suit their lifestyle.

“There is a lot more inspiration

The materiality of kitchens is seeing a shift too. Organic textures and natural hues in matte finishes are becoming

available to people nowadays, which

more popular on bench surfaces and

has been spectacular as my clients

cabinetry, not only for their timelessness

can take a variety of looks from

but for their practicality.

different kitchens,” explains Nicola, “My role is to ensure my clients’ dream kitchens are designed specifically to their tastes and everyday needs.”

Nicola’s dedication to her clients has seen her create some truly stunning kitchen designs, each one entirely unique. With a wealth of experience in the industry, Nicola is able to draw on her years of knowledge to design and create kitchens that are beautiful and highly functional.

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“As we have been spending so

“With the development of new technology, matte acrylic materials such as laminate have been in high demand, likely due to its soft, almost powdery finish and lower cost compared to materials such as timber veneer. These surfaces are also more resistant to fingerprints, therefore popular among young families or any client who prefers a low-maintenance solution”.

“When designing for our clients, we focus on producing bespoke design solutions. In doing so, we can create something that the clients will be proud of and love for years to come.” nmdesign.co.nz

forma.co.nz

THE

THE FIRST FULLY ELECTRIC BMW SAV Choosing the new way of doing things doesn’t mean sacrificing the best parts of what went before. Meet the all-new iX3, the first fully electric BMW SAV. Blending sheer driving pleasure with the advantages of an SAV. With an electric range of up to 460km*, the iX3 delivers uncompromised emission-free electric excellence. *Driving conditions apply.

#BORNELECTRIC bmw.co.nz

Bring Ōpononi inside

One of our most popular neutrals.

Find your colour at dulux.co.nz Photo: Lisa Cohen. Stylist: Bree Leech. Artwork: “Night 1” by Phoebe Halpin, Studio Gallery. Wall colour shown is in Dulux Wigram and Ōpononi Double. Dulux and Colours of New Zealand are registered trade marks of DuluxGroup (Australia) Pty Ltd. Due to limitations of the printing process, images may not represent the true paint colour. Always confirm your colour choice with Dulux Sample Pots.