Houzz Tour: Wellington Houses Win the Generation Game
On a steep site, an extended family builds a pair of townhouses that show what's possible on a budget
The owners of these two houses on a steep, tight section of land in Wellington’s Brooklyn are about as far from traditional townhouse developers as it’s possible to get. The homeowners, along with their children and one owner’s mother, set out to build a pair of small, cleverly designed houses where they could all live together. Each owned their own houses nearby, but wanted to sell them and bunk in together – and in the process they wanted to create something interesting that worked for them as a family.
Their long-time friends, architects Pete Ritchie and Bronwen Kerr found the proposition fascinating. How do you create a compound of two houses that allows families to come together, at the same time as ensuring each house has its privacy and a sense of space? The project was made all the more challenging by the fact that the budget, despite combining two houses into one property, was tight.
Their long-time friends, architects Pete Ritchie and Bronwen Kerr found the proposition fascinating. How do you create a compound of two houses that allows families to come together, at the same time as ensuring each house has its privacy and a sense of space? The project was made all the more challenging by the fact that the budget, despite combining two houses into one property, was tight.
The architects ran a monopitch roof over the entire living space: the living room – with an open fireplace – is at ground level, while the kitchen and dining area is half a level above. You enter into the small foyer, and immediately your eye is drawn up and through the building, as each space borrows from the other – making it feel much bigger than it is. “I guess that’s what makes it interesting,” says Ritchie. “You’ve got spaces that overlook other spaces.”
As you progress through the house, the spaces get progressively less public: bedrooms and bathrooms are on the next level up again, under their own monopitch roof.
As you progress through the house, the spaces get progressively less public: bedrooms and bathrooms are on the next level up again, under their own monopitch roof.
Because the site was long and narrow, they made the houses long and narrow, cutting into the buildings to create small, north-facing decks and courtyards that are easily accessible from almost every room – a move that makes the houses feel much bigger than they are. “As you move up through the site you can walk out onto good useable space,” says Ritchie. “Even on the highest level you can walk out into your vegetable garden. It’s capturing the topography.”
Then there was that budget. Building on Wellington’s famously steep hills invariably comes with an awful lot of engineering under the ground, so the next big design challenge was making the buildings economically viable. “There’s a lot of concrete just to get them out of the ground,” says Ritchie. “There’s a lot of raw material.” To save money, the clients managed the building process, rather than Kerr Ritchie – an unusual arrangement that worked well because of the long-standing friendship between client and architect.
With so much being spent below ground, Ritchie and Kerr kept the materials basic above ground: the houses are clad in a simple but strong combination of vertical shiplap cladding, stained black, with a standard steel roofing – though, as they have with other projects, the practice turned it around so that it has a smaller negative detail and a wider positive. “We used this on our own house,” says Ritchie. “It becomes a bit more like a weatherboard.” It’s also fast to construct and incredibly hard-wearing, a plus in Wellington’s rainy, windy climate.
The rear house sits above the front house, with a driveway connecting the two in between. At the left beside the front stairs to the rear house is a bike garage, which means they only need a single carport under the house – a double garage here would have been very unfriendly indeed.
The rear house sits above the front house, with a driveway connecting the two in between. At the left beside the front stairs to the rear house is a bike garage, which means they only need a single carport under the house – a double garage here would have been very unfriendly indeed.
Inside, the material palette is just as simple: there are white walls and polyurethaned plywood, which is usually covered up as sub-flooring but which here is used on the floor and the ceiling. “We often try to think of these things as wrapping around,” says Ritchie. “Often where you’ve got floor, we might wrap it around a ceiling.” This gives the place a sense of containment and weight – a simple move that doesn’t cost much.
Those long boundaries and close neighbours meant thoughtful window placement was critical. “We were trying to get as much sun into the buildings as we could,” he says. All the living areas, even some of the bedrooms, have north-facing windows, while big windows at the western end of the buildings pull in afternoon sun to heat the space in winter. The placement was carefully moderated to ensure privacy from neighbours: sills are sometimes higher to exclude a viewshaft from a neighbouring property, while other windows are low down on walls.
A small guest toilet with storage above sits next to the front door. The wooden light fitting in the living area is by David Trubridge.
A small guest toilet with storage above sits next to the front door. The wooden light fitting in the living area is by David Trubridge.
The use of timber and steel cladding is quite deliberate, a way of working that the practice has developed over several projects. As Ritchie explains, anywhere that humans will come into contact with the house, such as around doors or terraces, or corners that you might brush past or touch in your day-to-day life, Ritchie and Kerr specified timber. Colder, tougher spots are generally clad in steel.
Despite the familial closeness, the architects chose not to blur the boundaries between the two houses: each house has its own distinct outdoor areas – an important consideration if they ever want to rent one of the houses out.
Despite the familial closeness, the architects chose not to blur the boundaries between the two houses: each house has its own distinct outdoor areas – an important consideration if they ever want to rent one of the houses out.
The lower house has two bedrooms and compact living areas: it’s screened from the busy road in front by a thick concrete wall and has its own gate out onto the street. It has two small courtyards front and back, which will eventually be covered with greenery. It follows a similar material palette (not pictured in this story) to the bigger house – but where the rear house climbs the hill, the front house is dug into the hill to create a one-level home – an important consideration for the grandmother in retirement.
The family has been living in the houses for a couple of years. Last year, the project won an award in the multi-housing category of the Wellington Architecture Awards. For the family, living on the same piece of land has turned out to be a wonderful move. “Every time we talk to them about it, they’re proud of it,” says Ritchie. “They’re fantastic clients – and they love living there.”
TELL US
Would you move in with the in-laws like this family has done? Tell us in the Comments section.
The family has been living in the houses for a couple of years. Last year, the project won an award in the multi-housing category of the Wellington Architecture Awards. For the family, living on the same piece of land has turned out to be a wonderful move. “Every time we talk to them about it, they’re proud of it,” says Ritchie. “They’re fantastic clients – and they love living there.”
TELL US
Would you move in with the in-laws like this family has done? Tell us in the Comments section.
Who lives here: A couple with young children and the children’s grandmother
Location: Brooklyn, Wellington, New Zealand
Size: Front house: 90 square metres; 2 bedrooms. Rear house: 210 square metres; 4 bedrooms
Design: Kerr Ritchie Architects
Year built: 2014
“It’s long and very narrow,” says Ritchie of the site. “There are lots of constraints working on a site like that – constraints and opportunities.” A busy road sits at the western end, with the northern side running down one of the long side boundaries – though the outlook was to the west, across the road. But the 700-square-metre site (which had a run-down old bungalow on it) allowed the family to build two houses without going through a difficult consenting process. Subdivision wasn’t on the cards, but it did allow them to build a main family home with a smaller, self-contained dwelling in front. And it was just down the road from the very cute hillside village of Brooklyn, close to the centre of Wellington.
Kerr and Ritchie’s response was an elegant one. They split the long section in two across the middle and ran a long driveway up one side, then designed two compact houses – one larger than the other – that follow the contours of the steep site, rather than working against it. The lower house was for one owner’s mother: small and compact, it was built on one level, and has its own entrance out to the street. Behind it sits a larger house for the family and their children.