Description:

This house aims to unify the client's love for urban industrial spaces with their desire for living and engaging day-to-day with the sea. The client desired a fearless response to this site. One that challenged expectations of of what an Auckland coastal house should be.
Designed as a series of moments that offer striking, contrasting and evocative experiences, to reject one's expectations of a residential property in this setting.
The oversized raw and rusted entrance door throws one immediately into a double height space, the confluence of the building's horizontal and vertical circulation. Exposed black steel stairs ascend to a mezzanine master bedroom. Height restrictions on the site meant that the secondary lounge space below this mezzanine had to be sunken below the main floor level, which created an opportunity for a more intimate experience in the snug below.
The kitchen and dining are combined in the lofty main 'warehouse' space to create an open and informal encounter. The back bench with massive gridded widows, exposed flues and a clay pizza oven. The kitchen island is the heart of the space; a natural stone jewel anchoring the surrounding area.
The main living space celebrates industrial finishes and lofty height. With the exposed recycled brick wrapping inside, an exposed cast iron fire and flue held by plastered block walls, massive steel framed hinged doors opening you out to the view, all offset with the warmth of exposed macrocarpa ceiling joists and sarking.
The more intimate scale of the master bedroom and ensuite, brings you closer to the textures of the house; the ceiling timber within reach, the brick alongside as you bathe and large raw steel sliding doors allow flexibility of privacy or connection between bedroom, ensuite and overlooking the main living area. Softly textured plaster provides a calm backdrop to the bed to offset the energy of the adjacent materials.
The secondary bedrooms, bathrooms and service areas flank the main building to the east and west and provide a quieter experience. The bathroom is completely wrapped in natural stone and soft light as a foil to the dramatic living spaces.
The interior architecture of this house was critical to its success and was designed closely and concurrently with the exterior architecture to provide an urban industrial experience alongside moments of calmer domesticity. This house pursues a desire for everyday enjoyment, novelty and refusal of convention.