4 New Zealand Homes That Proudly Connect With Their Environment
See an architect's unique way of addressing the region's topography and water views
A while 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, about how examining some houses would enable an understanding of what elements and attitudes are particular to a region. Writing it made me wonder about New Zealand. After resolving this year to virtually visit it, I started to dig through photos and profiles of professionals, and in due course discovered Daniel Marshall Architects. The residences he has shared on Houzz are beautiful, and they make me wonder how they respond to the country’s conditions. Marshall’s blog helps a bit 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 houses designed by Marshall, giving an idea of what makes New Zealand unique. Each house’s design results from responses to a few factors consistent to the country; undulating topography, a favourable climate and being surrounded by water. 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 contemporary architecture, but also with homes in California, where a benign climate and nearby ocean embrace similar design responses.
This ideabook will take some short tours of the houses designed by Marshall, giving an idea of what makes New Zealand unique. Each house’s design results from responses to a few factors consistent to the country; undulating topography, a favourable climate and being surrounded by water. 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 contemporary architecture, but also with homes in California, where a benign climate and nearby ocean embrace similar design responses.
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 as though in an act of defiance, while the steps lead to the entrance in the middle of the plan.
Here we can see the creative way the house merges with the site. A wall on the east end cantilevers over the slope as though in an act of defiance, while the steps lead to the entrance in the middle of the plan.
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 the strong connection with the environment that Marshall notes.
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 the horizon that it overlooks.
2. Elmstone, Auckland
This home, on the other hand, is in a suburban Auckland context, at 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.
This home, on the other hand, is in a suburban Auckland context, at 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.
On the other, northern side of the house, we see the true scale of the project; what looked like a one- or two-storey house from the front is actually a three-storey split-
level home. As with Korora, the glazing on the north is generous, opening up views and inviting the sun in.
level home. As with Korora, the glazing on the north is generous, opening up views and inviting the sun in.
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.
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.
3. Lucerne, Auckland
This is a large house located on the edge of Orakei Basin (which was a volcano a very long time ago). The site gives the residents views of Auckland city and the harbour beyond. Yet what was more important was 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.
This is a large house located on the edge of Orakei Basin (which was a volcano a very long time ago). The site gives the residents views of Auckland city and the harbour beyond. Yet what was more important was 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.
The very un-garage-like garage doors are crafted from vertical wooden 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-made door handle that extends from the top to the bottom of the door.
The treatment makes for a very welcoming entrance. A closer look at the entrance door reveals a lovely custom-made door handle that extends from the top to the bottom of the door.
Like the Elmstone house, Lucerne is a split level, but of a different sort: It is a three-storey house that is two storeys high at the front and 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.
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-panelled wall … that is a unique work of art.”
4. Raumati, Auckland
Raumati (Maori for ‘summer’) is a replacement of a 1970s house in the Remuera area of Auckland, south 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. 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.
Raumati (Maori for ‘summer’) is a replacement of a 1970s house in the Remuera area of Auckland, south 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. 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.
The house was designed to be an addition, but it was decided that it would not work that way. The budget had to stay the same, however, so 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.
The plan is dumbbell-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 towards the pool; the entry and gallery are out of frame on the left.
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 steep sloping sites and relating to its surroundings through views, both near and distant.
YOUR TURN
Which one is your favourite property and why? Tell us in the comments section below.
YOUR TURN
Which one is your favourite property and why? Tell us in the comments section below.
About half of the ‘Kiwi’ 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.