These included, a two bedroom home with lots of space for entertaining; a huge connection to the outdoors and Mt Taumahunga which dominates the skyline; a separate garage with linking walkway; a functional kitchen as they love to cook and preserve; somewhere to display their art and period furniture; a fireplace; and lastly the home had to offer low energy costs, with the owners’ impending retirement in mind.
Design development and functionality
They had owned the property for some time and had developed an extensive vegetable garden. And as part of this, they had constructed a small roofed storage area for the garden with corrugated iron tanks.
And this modest element initiated some of the original design thinking for what was to be a grand home.
The very flat site meant there were no topographical constraints, however there was an overland flow path to consider and it was within an outstanding natural area.
This fitted with the owners’ desire for the home to blend into the landscape with typical rural forms.
The limited budget strongly influenced material choices. For example, the owners loved the look of vertical cedar shiplap, however this would have pushed the budget too far, so we settled upon Hardies Axon painted black with cedar accents.
However, along with the vertical shiplap-look cladding we used familiar rural materials – a Colorsteel roof, brick, and cedar accents.
The house has the look of a large modern, clean-lined barn, ensuring a contemporary style that sits harmoniously within its rural surroundings.
The house is neatly divided in functionality – open-plan living on one side and private spaces – bathrooms and bedrooms – in the other half.