Selected Project
TOTARA HILL
This residential project is situated at the eastern edge of farmland in the view of Mt Taranaki The project is a single-level modest house for the youngest son of a farming family. It represents the welcome back to the farm and the local community The site is elevated to the north and surveys the farm and valleys below. Despite its elevated status, the project and design process was grounded in generational memory and robust family input. It is an understated building, leaving the views to connect the family Perched on the hill, it is all about the approach and the view, but also the physical impact of building form on the landscape. A key decision was to have a low-slung building presence that has allowed for long overhanging eaves and a gentle roof pitch – the reverse of the original farmhouse form. Black-stained dressed-faced cedar on the new build is a reference to the kiwi batch: the 60’s and 70’s hand-made era. The materials, a reference to the small Group Architects houses of Auckland and of the Case Study Houses of Los Angeles A kind of bachelor pad in the hills without the pretense Internal linings are of durable radiata pine plywood. An exposed concrete floor provides for solar massing; high- and low-level windows provide for passive ventilation, natural lighting and the integration of innovative sustainable design principles, like harnessing the waste heat from the computer server and reticulating it throughout the house “Having visited Dougal’s new house I am so hugely jealous and have put you all, collectively, on the ‘Superior’ list of advisors. His house blew me away design wise, ambiance wise, finishing bits, all of it. It has quiet, rock solid quality, a lovely living space in its situation, especially inviting for a person on their own (or not). I loved walking around outside and seeing how amazing and different it looks from any angle, that is clever to achieve! It doesn’t need a garden to ‘help’ any angle or view. I am very impressed and would now like one of my own!” Robyn Mackenzie
- Category
- Residential
- Location
