Houzz Tour: Hugging the Cliff and the Tree Makes for a Great Escape
This New Zealand home has made the most of its stunning (and somewhat precarious) island location with a clever modular grid design
If you’ve heard the expression ‘between a rock and a hard place’, you’ve heard a description of the location of this house. Strung along a cliff edge on beautiful Waiheke Island, a 40-minute ferry ride from the city of Auckland in New Zealand, the building platform was punctuated on the opposite side by a very large protected tree. The pohutukawa is known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree because it flowers at the start of summer (early December) with its flossy red blooms heralding the imminent arrival of Santa. The clients commissioned design-and-build company Box Living to craft a holiday home and separate sleepout that took advantage of the spectacular ocean view. They wanted a retreat with a casual feel, where the material palette was unpretentious and easy to maintain. They preferred to spend their summer vacation fishing from the dinghy in the bay below the house – and cooking up the day’s catch on the barbie – not painting weatherboards or mowing lawns.
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Size: 150 square metres (main house) plus 30 square metres (sleepout); 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (main house)
That’s interesting: The main living zone of this house wraps itself around a protected tree
A surprise inside: There’s no plasterboard in the home at all. Every wall is lined with plywood
From the architect: “Building on an island can be expensive. One way to keep costs down is to design to a (standard) modular grid and to make good use of prefabricated materials.”
Photography by Emma-Jane Hetherington
Houzz at a Glance
Location: Waiheke Island, New Zealand
Size: 150 square metres (main house) plus 30 square metres (sleepout); 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms (main house)
That’s interesting: The main living zone of this house wraps itself around a protected tree
A surprise inside: There’s no plasterboard in the home at all. Every wall is lined with plywood
From the architect: “Building on an island can be expensive. One way to keep costs down is to design to a (standard) modular grid and to make good use of prefabricated materials.”
Photography by Emma-Jane Hetherington
The home takes its aesthetic from the simplicity of a bach (a Kiwi term for the makeshift dwellings bachelors used to build to stay in when they were hunting or fishing). The cladding is a combination of low-maintenance cedar board-and-batten and dark corrugated metal. The colour palette allows the home to recede into the background. Careful consideration was given to detailing the joins and fixings in order to balance the rustic appeal of the material palette with a contemporary sensibility.
An unexpected splash of yellow on the front door delivers a cheerful welcome.
The glass louvres are in rainbow shades of blue, green, yellow and lilac. They not only provide a point of interest externally, but become the 'artwork' inside the home, throwing a rainbow of light onto the surfaces like a modern version of a stained-glass window.
The home is designed to a modular grid which means there were fewer off-cuts and less waste to landfill. With walls lined in plywood and no plasterboard, no ‘wet’ trades such as painters and plasterers were required to finish the job, which made the build on an island more economical, too. Particle-board flooring is an inexpensive option that again links back to the concept of the ‘bach’.
Inside, there’s something almost Scandinavian to the look, which combines pale timber and elegant, light-on-its-feet furniture. In the kitchen, a black mosaic-tile splashback is a modern version of a retro 50s look. “The cabinets can be accessed from both sides of the island – which makes laying the table a lot easier,” says Box Living CEO Dan Heyworth.
The pendant lighting looks Danish inspired, too.
Open shelving is in keeping with the easy-living style of the dwelling and the owners have introduced a colour hit with ceramic bowls on display.
The main living room, lined in plywood, is cosy and intimate, and turns its back on the dramatic view of the ocean. Instead it wraps around the protected pohutukawa tree, and sliding windows are positioned to frame the tree as a living artwork.
Built-in shelving between the living and dining area provides storage for books, board games and the TV, but also acts as a divider between this room and the kitchen/dining area. "Built-in elements such as window seats, shelving and outdoor benches meant this weekend escape needed minimal furnishing," says Heyworth.
The protected pohutukawa tree sat in an awkward position amidst the building platform so the architects decided to use it as a sculptural focus and designed the layout of the home to embrace this challenge.
The house is linked to a sleepout by a timber boardwalk that spans a gully and forces the occupants to commune with the great outdoors when walking between the two. “We introduced an element of fun; it’s a little like a swing bridge between the two parts of the house,” says Heyworth.
Oriented for sun and with floor-to-ceiling glazing, the home can be opened up to cool sea breezes. In winter, a wood-burner keeps the chills at bay. A sloping ceiling throughout allows a sense of spaciousness within the compact footprint.
With textural plywood walls and a window that frames the pohutukawa, the only artwork needed here is a marine map of the surrounding area.
In this bedroom, a built-in bench seat offers a cosy nook in the sunshine to read a book. Floor-to-ceiling cupboards provide ample storage.
With so much timber around, the colour panels in the louvred windows bring a touch of whimsy to the design – fitting for a casual holiday home.
The wood grain gives a rich texture to the spaces while light flowing through the coloured louvres adds a little fun.
Plywood bathroom cabinetry with routed apertures as handles continues the pared-back, no-frills theme. High clerestory windows allow the outdoors to flood into this space.
Being more in touch with the elements was an important part of the design brief from the owners who wanted a different experience from their city house.
The bridge that leads to the 'mini-me' sleepout comes with a view.
One upside of a clifftop site is that the horizon is unencumbered. The dwelling enjoys a 180-degree vista of the ocean.