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Architects: Parsonson Architects
- Year: 2013
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Photographs:Paul McCredie
Text description provided by the architects. The house sits on a steep site above Seatoun heights Road subdivided off the property directly to the north.
It was designed for a couple with 2 young girls and to fit entirely within the WCC District Plan building envelope. The owners were attracted to the site because of the views and the thought of being surrounded by the existing vegetation.
Our solution was to excavate the bedroom level back into the hillside and consider it in a subtly organic way, meandering across the site, jutting in and out, allowing in light and views and giving differing characters to each of the bedrooms. The bedroom level is clad in dark vertical corrugated iron, which visually anchors the form into the site and is intended to develop a relationship with the established trees.
It is treated as a podium or base to the lighter form of the living level above, which flows across the bedroom level and wraps around a existing small flat area of lawn and garden to the northwest of the house. The floor level steps down towards the view and views are available from the lawn through the house and out to the harbour beyond.
The house has a lift shift between the garage and bedroom levels (with no lift platform installed as yet) as a strategy to future proof the buildings value. After much consideration it was thought that by building a house of this size and cost well above the road there stood a better chance of not over capitalizing by including a lift.
