Sheltering wings

Designed by Wulf Borrmeister, Borrmeister Architects

From the architect:

The brief/house

This contemporary family home was built for a young family on a spacious lifestyle property, located in Halswell, Christchurch.

The brief was for a family home that would capture the sun, provide protection from the prevailing winds, and incorporate sheltered outdoor spaces – as well as opening up onto a northern outdoor grassed area to feature natural materials.

With a covered cedar clad walkway connecting the double garage to the house, upon entry you a drawn to the outdoor courtyard space and the striking cedar awnings and screens beyond.

The house consists of two main wings, aligned down two opposing axes, which together provide shelter from prevailing winds, capture the sun at different times of the day and assist with cross ventilation of the entire house. Sightlines down each axis provide strong visual connections from both indoors and out.

With each wing framing the northern courtyard, the plan offers visual interest and diversity between spaces, together with the sightlines connecting you to the outdoor spaces.

The open-plan living, well-appointed kitchen and dining area extends out to the covered outdoor living/entertaining area, positioned to provide shade during the day but capture the evening sun – offering the flexibility required for a modern family.

The bedroom spaces are efficiently aligned to capture the morning sun, with views out to vegetable gardens. Elegant compositions and natural materials feature throughout; from the horizontal roof bands, oiled cedar weatherboards and plastered concrete block walls (inside and out), all contribute to the warm atmosphere and economical living spaces of the home.

Sustainability statement

The courtyard plan was developed to take advantage of passive design considerations such as enhanced natural ventilation, access to natural solar gain, and protection from winds.

The orientation and layout of the building has been carefully considered to optimise the northerly aspect, allowing optimum sunlight into the open plan living areas throughout the day.

In conjunction, roof overhangs, pergolas and sliding cedar screens have been introduced based on orientation and room type, each sized to allow the correct amount of shading in summer and sun penetration in winter.

In addition, the house features materials such as cedar and plastered concrete block which have been selected based on their durability and sustainability or their capacity to capture and store heat through their thermal mass.

A rendered concrete block wall is incorporated into the bedroom wing hallway to take advantage of passive solar heating during winter, while the sliding cedar screens provide adjustable shading as required in summer.

Designed by: Wulf Borrmeister, Borrmeister Architects

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Sarah Rowlands