Thoughtful dynamic

Designed by Tim Dagg, director,  Sheppard & Rout Architects

From the architect:

My wife and I purchased the property in 2013 so had experienced the seasons and environmental conditions on the property and knew that the site was atypical in an urban environment in that to the north we were surrounded on three sides by vegetation and were unlikely to be built out or have neighbouring houses looking onto our outdoor living area.

With no children at home we wanted to create a relaxed, comfortable set of spaces with a variety of options for sitting and relaxing either by ourselves or entertaining with friends and family.

The previous owners of the original bungalow on the property had constructed a pool and concrete terrace off the north of the living room and we elected to retain this terrace and open out onto it from the new house.

The form of the house developed as a result of attempting to work within the constraints of the street setback, recession planes and the location of the existing terrace to the north.

We wanted to exploit the private north facing outdoor living area while providing privacy to the bedrooms and living spaces within the house.

This was achieved by connecting the kitchen and first floor bedroom onto a double height living space that opened to the north and incorporating minimal windows to the side walls.

Externally the idea was to create an aesthetically simple roof form over the house, starting with a half gable at the street and folding to a full gable at the north, with no spouting on the east to highlight the fold.

We turned our back to the street in terms of the lack of fenestration on the south elevation, but this façade becomes alive at night with the ability to backlight the polycarbonate façade with colour changing LED lighting.

External cladding has been restricted to low maintenance materials including brick with the metal tray roofing on the two storey form folding over to become the wall cladding. Small elements of cedar have been used where they can easily be accessed for maintenance.

Internally the palette of raw and natural materials has been selected to provide a warm, robust and relaxed interior and includes concrete flooring, an ash timber-clad feature wall with concealed door, natural steel linings and stair balustrade, Fijian kauri timber linings and boarding is incorporated into the ensuite while the living room wall and ceiling is lined with birch veneer panels.

The house design was based around minimising energy input into the heating and cooling of the house and this was achieved in part by the use of the 1.5 metre roof overhang to the glazed north façade to reduce solar gain.

The placement of opening doors and windows has been carefully thought through to provide natural cross ventilation to the house and to eliminate the need to use heat pumps to cool the house in summer. 

Any warm air in the house rises up through the mezzanine living room and out through the opening skylights in the roof.

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Anthony Turnham