![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Facade, Windows, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/6c4e/284d/d1be/cc00/0094/newsletter/feature_-_1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1619x.jpg?1569418295)
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Architects: Herbst Architects
- Area: 300 m²
- Year: 2018
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Photographs:Jackie Meiring
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Manufacturers: AutoDesk, -, BBS, BBS Timbers, Chemseal Finish, Organoil, Trimble Navigation
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Lead Architects: Lance and Nicola Herbst
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Windows, Facade, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/6a26/284d/d1d3/0f00/013b/newsletter/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1632x.jpg?1569417741)
Text description provided by the architects. Focusing on the view, which stretches from the sloping section on a ridgeline across to the Poor Knights Islands, was a priority for Lance and Nicky Herbst of Herbst Architects. The spiral staircase that leads from the parking deck to the main body of the home acts as a telephoto lens. “It’s trained perfectly onto a pool of blue water that swishes into a rocky outcrop from the sea,” says Nicky.
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Table, Beam, Chair, Windows, Deck](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/6b43/284d/d1d3/0f00/014c/newsletter/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1681x.jpg?1569418029)
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/671a/284d/d1be/cc00/0088/newsletter/Tutukaka_Drawing_Plan.jpg?1569416956)
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Chair, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/6bd9/284d/d1d3/0f00/014f/newsletter/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1730x.jpg?1569418176)
Lance calls this journey to the view a “classic sequence”. It begins with a carport that has an agrarian feel (where the owners’ beloved campervan has its berth), continues between two block walls that solidly channel the arrival, and on down along rain-screened walkways and across a glass-walled bridge that links to the heart of the home, set on a perpendicular plane.
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Table, Sink, Wood, Beam, Countertop, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/6b60/284d/d1d3/0f00/014d/medium_jpg/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1683x.jpg?1569418054)
The Herbsts see this room (with kitchen, dining, and living) as a viewing platform. And, of course, their customary blurring of boundaries is here – all huge sliding windows that open one half to the elements and structural ledges, which become casual seats that float above the land.
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Facade, Beam](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/699c/284d/d1d3/0f00/0138/medium_jpg/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1611x.jpg?1569417605)
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Facade, Windows](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/6af6/284d/d1d3/0f00/014a/newsletter/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1674x.jpg?1569417953)
![](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/66e1/284d/d1d3/0f00/0121/newsletter/Tutukaka_Drawing_Elev_South.jpg?1569416907)
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Windows, Facade](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/697f/284d/d1d3/0f00/0137/newsletter/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1608x.jpg?1569417575)
“We like to feather the zone between inside and out,” says Nicky, “so we’ve included a battened eyebrow with stays to support it as cover overhead, which emphasizes this architectural transition.” She likens the steel struts to branches of a pohutukawa. “It’s the notion of looking through trees,” adds Lance. “By putting something man-made in the foreground of a huge natural panorama, you actually enhance the view – it relates back to the building.”
![Tutukaka House / Herbst Architects - Facade, Handrail](https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5d8b/69d6/284d/d1d3/0f00/0139/medium_jpg/1809-URBIS-HERBST_Tutukaka_1615x.jpg?1569417659)