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Time waits for no man.

Building such a home towards the end of life takes courage, immense courage.

But not from the Architect, in this instance the Architect has taken a back seat on this ride into outer space.

Analogies of this home to the make up of the Moeraki Boulders being concretions created by the cementation of the Paleocene mudstone of the Moeraki Formation, from which they have been exhumed by coastal erosion are not so obvious.

But you need to look hard.

The main body of the Moeraki boulders started forming in what was then marine mud, near the surface of the Paleocene sea floor. This is demonstrated by studies of their composition; specifically the magnesium and iron content, and stable isotopes of oxygen and carbon. Their spherical shape indicates that the source of calcium was mass diffusion, as opposed to fluid flow.

After the concretions formed, large cracks known as septaria formed in them. Brown calcite, yellow calcite, and small amounts of dolomite and quartz progressively filled these cracks when a drop in sea level allowed fresh groundwater to flow through the mudstone enclosing them.

The Moeraki Boulders nor the Beck home are not to be confused with stromatolites fossilised examples of which can look similar.

Water colour paintings started the thinking on site, the yellow calcite, and small amounts of dolomite held tight during this fluid processes.

The front door of this home brings you to a moment in the home that enables a clear reading of a cracked Moeraki boulder.

It’s as American as apple pie and Apollo 11, in Palm springs, but the disco ball in outer space is pure NZ.

Date:  2018

Bull O'Sullivan Architecture
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Professionals used in
Beck Family Home

About the
Professional

The BOS Practice is driven by the pursuit of quality - a belief that our surroundings directly influence the quality of our lives, whether in the workplace, at home or the public spaces and structures in between. It is not just buildings but urban design that affects our wellbeing. We are concerned with the physical context of a project, sensitive to the culture and climate of their place. We have applied the same priorities from housing to education to furniture.

The BOS philosophy and values that inspire every project are the same regardless of scale or size. This explains why no detail is too small in its importance for the BOS Practice and why the same amount of care and attention will be lavished on the design of a door handle, a tap, or a piece of furniture.

These, after all, are the elements of the environment that we physically touch every day of our lies. The BOS Practice believes the quality of a project is not necessarily related to how much it costs, but rather how wisely the resources of time and money are spent. The setting of standards is more about an attitude of mind in defining goals and honouring commitments. In that sense the most important things have not changed - in particular the philosophy of quality and optimism at the most personal of levels.