Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Table, BeamUnder Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Bed, BedroomUnder Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - BeamUnder Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - WindowsUnder Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - More Images+ 15

Auckland, New Zealand

   

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Stairs, Beam, Handrail, Forest
©  Patrick Reynolds

The site with which we were presented was extremely challenging in that it was 90% covered in mature pohutukawa trees, the site being a part of a continuous belt of forest that edges the road along the beach front.

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Table, Beam
©  Patrick Reynolds

The circumstances not so much allowed, but dictated a sensitive poetic response to a building that, in order to exist would require the destruction of a large number of mature trees. To do this we looked to the trees themselves to give us the cues that we needed.

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Wood, Door, Facade, Windows, Handrail
©  Patrick Reynolds

We separated the brief loosely into private and “public” components, giving us smaller individual masses with which to articulate the forms. The private functions of bedrooms and garage are housed in two towers which are construed as freshly sawn stumps of the trees that were removed.

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Table, Beam, Windows, Deck
©  Patrick Reynolds

To allude to the bark of the stumps the skins of the towers are clad in black/brown stained rough sawn irregular battens. The interior spaces are then seen as carved out of the freshly cut wood, achieved by detailing all the wall / ceiling and cabinetry elements in the same light timber.

elevation

The public space connects the two towers and attempts to engage with the surrounding pohutukawa forest by defining a crossover space between the powerful natural environment and the built form. The plane of the roof form pins off the towers to engage with the continuous tree canopy, disintegrating from a rigid plane to a frayed edge which filters light in a similar way to the leaf canopy.

plan 01

The primary structure holding up the roof is a series of treeelements which allude to the trunks and branches of trees but are detailed in a rigorous geometric arrangement which suggests an ordering of nature as it enters and forms the building.

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects - Beam
©  Patrick Reynolds

The height of the public space with its light glass division responds to the height of the surrounding trees, the roof planeis partially glass to allow the full extent of the trees to be felt as they lean over the building. A walkway links the towers at the upper level allowing engagement with both the natural and man made canopies.

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About this office
Cite: "Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects" 30 Apr 2012. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/230172/under-pohutukawa-herbst-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

©  Patrick Reynolds

Under Pohutukawa / Herbst Architects

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