The existing 1899 Villa had been previously altered with a mid-2000s addition. The brief called for minor internal alterations and refurbishment to the existing and a completely new addition consisting of a sitting / ‘garden room’, laundry, guest WC, and storage room to accommodate a growing young family. A key vision for the addition and alterations was to further develop the connection of the house to the surrounding gardens and northern outdoor living.

By centering the house around landscaped courtyards, a swimming pool and gardens, this seaside home blurs the transition between in and out, maximising its coastal location and hillside surroundings. All-day sun, shelter from the prevailing winds and privacy are achieved through the clever use of levels, extensive glazing, generous rooflines and sliding timber screens. Well-proportioned interiors and a thoughtful floorplan provide a warm, light home, which responds to the clients lifestyle. Whitewashed macrocarpa cladding that reflects the beachside environment.

Pivoting around an open kitchen, this home’s internal areas are spacious, engaging and designed to harness both light and ventilation from all available aspects. Composed of a set of rotated pavilions, the house’s resulting negative spaces provide generous outdoor living areas for enjoyment of beautifully landscaped gardens. One can easily see how the inhabitants might move through the home as the day begins, enjoying morning light on the front deck and tending to the vege garden, before retreating from the heat of the day, then entertaining into the evening.

2020

This contemporary home is bound to place through clever design, impeccable materiality and appropriate scale. The entrance, fundamental to the overall building experience, has been celebrated - as has the resident experience through an excellent sequence of spaces that showcases the geomorphic foundation of the home. The sophisticated interior, clever use of space, connected landscape and beautiful natural light make this home hard to leave.

The brief was to provide 6 triple floored free-standing townhouses that would capture thesun and provide private indoor-outdoor living away from the street edge. The design concept focused on creating a ‘village-like’ atmosphere with pathways between units, upper floor living with access to views, and a shared courtyard at ground level.

Three contrasting forms come together in this family home – which was a solution to the challenge of a long and very narrow site and consciously fits in with its surrounding neighbours and the wider neighbourhood context. The brief was for an easy to navigate, functional family home that would capture sun and maintain a strong connection to the outdoor spaces and greenery. The narrow nature of the site running east to west meant the advantage of a long site frontage facing north – all the rooms in the house are filled with light.

Two wings on different axes comprise this home – together providing wind shelter, capturing the sun and creating fluid indoor-outdoor living. 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.

Following the site’s shape, the building unfurls in a series of enigmatic, light-filled spaces within a logical building plan composed of courtyards and outdoor zones, each positioned to follow the sun’s path. Though warm and inviting, the living-dining area features full height glazing on two sides and a double height atrium above to enhance the garden connection at both levels. The dramatic upper floor floats neatly above, containing bedrooms and attached bathrooms. The building has incorporated natural cladding materials using Timaru Bluestone and Cedar.

This kitchen has its own personality within the wider space without dominating or competing for the eye. Glass walls and sliders and a double-height void ensure the wider entertainment zone is light-filled during the day, with the black kitchen offering the perfect foil to the abundance of light.​​​​​​​Easy to prep and cook in, with a close work triangle, a plethora of high-end appliances, plenty of storage, and well-lit benchtop surfaces, this designer kitchen is also a pleasure to look out from or to entertain dinner guests from.

One of the positive things to result from the earthquakes, this Mt Pleasant house is a confident rebuild that sqeezes the potential from a tricky hillside corner site. The outside is textured black cedar and steel, but once through the front door, the house is light, free and airy. In response to the site, expansive views to both sea and valley are framed and focused, and sunlight, bright and dappled, is admitted to all room; the wind is tamed by well-connected courtyards.

The objective of the design was to reinvigorate and modernise the existing character of the client's 1960's home on Mount Pleasant, Christchurch. Working within the existing building footprint, internal spaces were opened up and a natural material palette inspired by the existing house was selected to compliment existing features retained, such as the original hardwood timber floors.

A carefully considered cluster of small building forms and their associated courtyards in a rural context completes stage 2 of a project which began with a small weekend retreat some eight years ago. This house is a good example of how a relatively small footprint can be made to feel big and interesting through clarity of relationships between inside and out. Clam, no fuss, relaxed spaces have created a very comfortable house. A simple palette of natural materials and sensitive landscaping gently locate this grouping within the surrounding Marlborough vineyards.

2024 - NZIA Canterbury Architecture Award Alterations and Additions - Villa 1899

2023 - TIDA International Home of the Year - Villa 1899

2023 - TIDA Architect Designed Renovation award - Villa 1899

2022 - NZIA Canterbury Architecture Award - Four Winds

2021 - TIDA Highly Commended - Pivot House

2021 - NZIA Nelson/Marlborough Award - Pivot House

2020 - TIDA Highly Commended - Urban Village

2020 - Architecture Masterprize Award - Red Rock

2020 - TIDA Highly Commended - Urban Village

2019 - TIDA  International home of the year award. - Red Rock

2019 - NZIA Canterbury Architecture award - Red Rock

2019 - Resene Colour award - Red Rock

2019 - TIDA Highly Commended award - Garden House

2019 - TIDA Architect New Home of the Year Award Winner - Red Rock

2019 - TIDA runner-up Kitchen Design - Dark Star Kitchen

2018 - NZIA Canterbury Architecture award - Mt Pleasant house

2017 - TIDA Architect Designed Renovation award - Barkley house / Mt Pleasant Renovation 

2013 - NZIA Nelson/Marlborough Award - Marlborough House