It’s a wrap
Intriguing architectural resolution – the angular forms of this costal home ensure privacy from the street, while maximising the water views
Designed by Mark McLeay, Creative Arch
From the designer:
Project Description
This new home in Whangaparaoa is nestled amongst the branches of protected Pohutukawa, looking through greenery to the Wade River as it flows into Arkles Bay. The brief for this project involved a new four bedroom home, with complete privacy from the street and maximum views over the water.
Fulfilling this purpose, vertical metal cladding wraps up and over an enigmatic angular form that sits close to a cliff edge. From the street, glimpses of glazing, living areas, vertical cedar cladding and low-maintenance bagged masonry can be seen from oblique angles.
However, the visual impact of the metal cladding cutting through the centre of the site draws the eye, and provides a sense of the mysterious.
To the rear of the site, façades are softened with the careful combination of materials and forms, with generous glazing looking out to the bay.
A number of outdoor living areas are apportioned along three edges of the home. These are screened and sheltered to provide protection against prevailing and unpredictable winds.
The angular roof form ties a single storey garage to the first floor bedroom and living spaces, folding gently over the rectangular south-eastern façade.
Design Features & Creative Solutions
Privacy from the street was a core component of the client’s brief, as was taking full advantage of beautiful ocean views. The decision to craft the angular forms of this home answers both of these requirements with a distinctive and intriguing architectural resolution.
The building effortlessly transitions between storey heights, anchoring down to the street while opening up to panoramic clifftop views.
In order to provide a wealth of natural light to the internal spaces, a skylight penetrating the roof-form aligns with a void through to the ground floor, adjacent to a stairwell with floor-to-ceiling glazing. The resulting light well also functions as a heat storage system, through the use of hot block walls.
The central location allows for efficient space circulation in addition to optimising the effects of the thermal mass.
Due to the exposure of the site to high winds from the southwest, the clients requested a number of options for outdoor living space. An expansive deck to the rear of the site was placed for maximum enjoyment of the clifftop views.
To the northwest, pergolas cover an outdoor dining/BBQ space, and a private deck to a bedroom. A patio to the south is sheltered between external walls and floor above.