Connected yet removed

This pavilion home is open to and celebrates its bush and water environment while providing privacy from neighbours and shelter from the wind

The home enhances and connects with the immediate

This home's two main pavilions are connected in

Not too much of the natural outlooks are

Office and laundry straight ahead, a large double

Stepping into relaxation – the deck, garden, steps

Looking past the central fireplace to the living

The dark-stained cedar fire surround doubles as a

Dark, large format tiles give the main bathroom

The master bedroom enjoys the same grand water

Building designer: Garry Mayne, Chilton + Mayne Architecture

From the building designer:

Brief

Located on the canals of Lake Hood, Ashburton, this family home provided our owners with the perfect opportunity to create their dream home while combining their love of the outdoors and water sports.

The brief was for the house to be a timeless entertainer's home suited to an active lifestyle.

In addition, the home was to further enhance and have a connection with the surrounding environment and utilise the Lake Hood lifestyle as an extension of their backyard.

The homeowners liked the idea of using gabled forms and requested that all the primary spaces enjoy unobstructed canal and mountain views that provide a serene yet ever-changing dynamic outlook for the home.

In other considerations, the house had to achieve privacy from near neighbours on either side and also offer protection from the prevailing Easterly wind.

Design features and creative solution

With the brief in mind and the prevailing wind from the east, the solution was to design the house with two main pavilions connected in an elongated, asymmetrical H-shape, with gabled pavilion roofs running from east to west, towards the canal.

This arrangement allowed the bulk of the home to provide shelter from the wind, creating a series of terraces and courtyards that can be enjoyed – depending on weather patterns – and further extending their interaction with the surrounding environment.

This floor plan has the added advantage of bringing privacy from the neighbours left and right which was a key part of the initial concept designs.

“Initially, the house doesn’t give a lot away to the street façade – we deliberately kept windows to a minimum on the street side of the house while the front door sits centrally within the span," says Mayne.

A small water feature playfully references the house’s location but it is only once you enter the home that the expansive views are revealed.

The lack of fence to the street elevation and a generous green area allows the site to share the space with the surrounding neighbourhood, while a side entry garage door lessens the dominance of the garage door.

Raking ceilings increase volume and create a feeling of space beyond the square metre area of the floor plan.

Ample glazing on the north and west-facing side of the house opens the interior to the views and encourages engagement with the outdoor spaces.

With a black accented interior proposed to the master bedroom and the media room, these spaces evoke a cave-like feel.

Contrasting the dramatic living space, the media room connects the bedroom and living pavilions.

Darkly stained cedar facade elements were incorporated into the wider material palette.

“We balanced this look with white plaster accents to create a dichromatic scheme that has been married right through into the interior,” the building designer says.

Peaceful easy feeling – at the rear, the

Sustainability

Energy efficiency was addressed early within the design phase, with careful glazed opening placements, roof overhangs and sun angles have all been considered in a passive solar design approach of harnessing and managing the sun’s energy while limiting overheating at the same time.