4 Modern New Zealand Homes Embrace Land and Sea
Journey to the southern hemisphere to see an architect's unique way of addressing the region's topography and waterside views
Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City. I have Bachelor of Architecture and Master in Urban Planning degrees, and over ten years experience in architectural practice, split between Chicago and NYC. Currently I'm focused on writing and online pursuits. My daily blog can be found at http://archidose.blogspot.com
Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City.... More »
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About a year ago I wrote about a number of houses in Australia, focusing on projects where connections between outside and inside are flexible and open. That ideabook also paralleled my series on regional modernism, in that examining some modern houses would get at what elements and attitudes are particular to a region. Australia is a mighty big country, making it hard to tackle such a task in one ideabook, but writing it made me wonder about New Zealand, the island country across the Tasman Sea.
After resolving this year to virtually visit New Zealand, I started to dig through photos and profiles of professionals from that country, and in the course discovered Daniel Marshall Architects. The four modern residences he has shared on Houzz are beautiful, and they make me wonder how they respond to the country's particular conditions. Marshall's blog helps a little in this regard; as he says, "New Zealanders value a strong connection with their environment," and "we believe there is a certain commonality in the way New Zealanders tend to live ... reflected in the arrangement of open, private, indoor and outdoor spaces."
This ideabook will take some short tours of the four houses by Marshall, giving outsiders an idea of what makes New Zealand unique. Each house's design results from responses to a few factors consistent to the country: an undulating topography, a favorable climate and being surrounded by water. So the houses are often split levels; they welcome the exteriors into the house via movable walls; and they are oriented to the sun and water views through large glass walls. These traits align the houses closely with Australia's crop of modern architecture, but also with homes in a place like California, where a benign climate and nearby ocean embrace similar design responses.
After resolving this year to virtually visit New Zealand, I started to dig through photos and profiles of professionals from that country, and in the course discovered Daniel Marshall Architects. The four modern residences he has shared on Houzz are beautiful, and they make me wonder how they respond to the country's particular conditions. Marshall's blog helps a little in this regard; as he says, "New Zealanders value a strong connection with their environment," and "we believe there is a certain commonality in the way New Zealanders tend to live ... reflected in the arrangement of open, private, indoor and outdoor spaces."
This ideabook will take some short tours of the four houses by Marshall, giving outsiders an idea of what makes New Zealand unique. Each house's design results from responses to a few factors consistent to the country: an undulating topography, a favorable climate and being surrounded by water. So the houses are often split levels; they welcome the exteriors into the house via movable walls; and they are oriented to the sun and water views through large glass walls. These traits align the houses closely with Australia's crop of modern architecture, but also with homes in a place like California, where a benign climate and nearby ocean embrace similar design responses.
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| 1. The Korora House, Waiheke New Zealand, as most people know, is composed of two main islands. About half of the population lives in four cities: Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Hamilton; all but Christchurch are on the north island. Marshall is based in Auckland, and the projects presented here are in the vicinity of that city. The Korora House is on Waiheke, a small island in the Hauraki Gulf east of Auckland. The house takes its name from the Maori word that translates as "little blue penguin," rooting the project in the Polynesian past and the natural context. The house has stunning views to the north. (As this is the southern hemisphere, north is the sunny side.) |
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| The house has a linear floor plan that moves from bedrooms on the east side (this photo) to the master suite on the west; in between are the living areas and a "living courtyard" sheltered by the roof. Here we can see the creative way the house merges with the site. A wall on the east end cantilevers over the slope, like an act of defiance, while the steps lead to the entrance in the middle of the plan. |
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| Standing in the entry, we can see back down the exterior steps. We also see the glass gallery that connects both ends of the linear plan as well as the living courtyard and the living area. Sliding doors merge interior and exterior to help create that strong connection with the environment that Marshall notes. |
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| On one side of the courtyard, a fireplace backs up against a hearth serving the lounge, pictured here. Again, the glass walls slide away to connect inside and outside. It's clear that Korora is all about the water and horizon that it overlooks. |
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| 2. Elmstone, Auckland This home, on the other hand, is in a suburban Auckland context, on the end of a cul-de-sac. On approach we see only the garage, on the left, and a glass wall at the entrance, behind which a concrete wall maintains some privacy. |
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| On the other side of the house, the sunny north side, we see the true scale of the project: What looked like a one- or two-story house from the front is actually a three-story split level. As with Korora, the glazing on the north is generous, opening up views and inviting in the sun. |
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| Another similarity to Korora can be found in the sliding glass walls that connect inside and outside — in this case the living area and patio on the ground floor. |
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| Here we are looking toward the front door, a 180-degree turn from the first photo of the house. In between is the concrete wall that maintains privacy but also, like the concrete slabs and walls elsewhere in the house, "contributes to a thermal mass to absorb the heat from plentiful northern and eastern sun to regulate internal temperature of the house," writes Marshall on his website. |
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| 3. Lucerne, Auckland This is a large house located on the edge of Orakei Basin, what was a volcano a very long time ago. The site gives the residents views of Auckland city and the harbor beyond. Yet what is more important is the client's need to house some classic cars, which Marshall addressed through the creation of an entry court that makes it hard to distinguish what is garage and what is house. |
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| The very un-garage-like garage doors are crafted from vertical wood boards that continue around the other walls on the entry court. Or as the client put it, "Our architect designed the doors around a courtyard, cleverly disguising them so that they are seemingly part of a wall." The treatment makes for a very welcoming entrance. A closer look at the entrance door reveals a lovely custom door handle that extends from the top to the bottom of the door. |
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| Like the Elmstone house, Lucerne is a split level, but of a different sort: It is a three-story house that is two stories on the front and two stories on the back, like a flattened "Z." Here we are seeing the middle and upper floor. The louvered area in the middle is the top of a double-height living area. |
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| From inside the living area we can see the city views beyond the basin. The back wall of the dining area is, as the client describes it, "a wonderful wax-paneled wall ... that is a unique work of art." |
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| 4. Raumati, Auckland Raumati (Maori for "summer") is a replacement of a 1970s house in the Remuera area of Auckland, south and west of the Orakei Basin and the Lucerne house. Like Marshall's other houses described in this ideabook, this house contends with a slope and is massed as a split level, like Elmstone. At the top are the entry and driveway, and at the bottom is a tennis court, an existing part of the old house that had to stay. |
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The house was designed to be an addition, but it was decided that would not work, although the budget had to stay the same. Marshall responded by simplifying materials and making the plan as efficient as possible. The wood exterior is particularly pleasing, especially in the way it closely matches the terrace.
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The plan is dumbell-like, and the interior volumes are fairly cubic — there are echoes of the Korara House. In each house the entrance falls in the middle of the plan at a glass gallery that links two sides of the house. At Raumati, the gallery looks onto the pool. Here we're looking from the living area toward the pool; the entry and gallery are out of frame on the left.
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While this house is more introverted than the others (there are some distant views from the top floor, though), it echoes many of the same concerns that Marshall mentions: merging indoor and outdoor space, dealing with steeply sloping sites and relating to its surroundings through views, both near and distant.
More:
The Outside Comes Inside Down Under
Regional Differences in Modern Architecture
More:
The Outside Comes Inside Down Under
Regional Differences in Modern Architecture
Ideabook published on Feb. 12, 2013.
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As a Kiwi, I'd recommend Queenstown as a more interesting architectural destination. Much smaller population there, but it's referred to as the millionaire's playground (hence plenty of stunning homes in the region). The landscape there is INCREDIBLY beautiful & the climate considerably more extreme than Auckland (esp. in Winter). The trends there go beyond "indoor/outdoor flow" (as we so fondly refer to it), so that the homes themselves are designed to blend beautifully into their surroundings so that the properties don't become the eyesores of the landscape.
Here is one such example that I managed to google up...Matakauri Lodge in Queenstown.
One of the things I sought out in FL was a house that could bring the outside in, with a great view. We bought a house where both the family and living rooms have the 3 sliding glass doors that stack all the way open (so opening is 15 ft wide) to a screened patio overlooking the river. I can have breakfast in several places in any weather.
I do love the window corners and the frameless glass doors.
Many of the burglaries are also "opportunistic" as still people can still be relatively relaxed about security in many places.
Decent "safety glass" and double-glazing is usually enough to deter crims as they'll just look for an easier target, or someone who left their garage door wide open!
Stunning homes and nice to see NZ featured on Houzz. There is a wealth of great architecture and design in this country.
Not wanting to put anyone off coming here because I live here (although I'm about to move to the US) and I love it. It is beautiful and absolutely worth the long-haul flight, but I am uncomfortable with the crime comparisons between NZ as "safe" and the US as "dangerous". Personally, I would be more likely to go to bed in Maine and leave my window open than I would in Otara (a suburb of South Auckland).
I am sure these houses featured are secure in spite of the sliding glass doors. These houses are in some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the country and if there aren't locks on them I feel very confident there is a state-of-the-art security system in place.
Like most countries NZ is only as safe as the neighbourhood you are in. I happened to grow up in South Auckland (which, when I was growing up was known as the Bronx of NZ) and I assure you the house was thoroughly locked and the alarm system on every night and every time we left the premises.