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Buffalo Beach House

Buffalo Beach House

Julian Guthrie Architecture

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This holiday home is located on the beach front at Whitianga, Coromandel. Read more
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Innovative beach house design in Whitianga, featuring a two-level structure with a relocatable sleeping zone and a fully glazed living area, complemented by motorised zinc shutters and in-situ concrete fireplaces.

This holiday home is located on the beach front at Whitianga, Coromandel. The site is severely restricted by a road-widening setback a coastal erosion setback, and a council requirement that the building must be re-locatable due to potential for rising sea levels.

The design solution is a two level house comprised of two main blocks. The sleeping zone is housed in a zinc wrapped container that meets truck-carrying dimensions. This block is suspended over a demountable, fully glazed living zone set between the east and west facing decks.

A black timber case contains the stairwell and utilities linked by a glazed bridge to the main building. A pair of in-situ concrete fireplaces, and a steel pergola complete the composition. Motorised zinc plank shutters can be raised to provide shade, privacy and shelter the bedrooms, or lowered to form a sun canopy for daytime use.

Photography by: Patrick Reynolds.

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Professional Reviews

1 / 5

“We have been clients of Julian Guthrie for approximately 20 years, within which period of time he has designed both renovations and new homes for us. The briefs have all been very different (including a new home, new beach house, and major renovation). Without exception, the results have all exceeded our expectations. Throughout the foregoing projects, Julian has also played an integral role in the management of planning requirements, and in the case of our home in Herne Bay, that process involved the complexity of obtaining consents to incorporate a character villa with additions that complemented the original home. His advice through that process, in addition to the design undertaken by him, was invaluable. In terms of that design work, we have no reservation in recommending Julian. He is an excellent communicator, and very skilled at translating a brief from a husband and wife (who do no always agree) into an outcome with which we have both been very happy. Our homes are personal to us, but undoubtedly a testament to Julian’s skills. Julian was also retained by my law firm to re-design and refit our offices. The offices are located in a challenging heritage building in the central business district. He had to take on board a number of individuals’ and personalities’ requirements in the brief. The end product, achieved in a very short duration, on budget, is outstanding. His relationship with the contractors on site was very good, all issues being resolved between them, with little input from us as clients in that process. That was of enormous value to us as busy professionals. We therefore have no hesitation in recommending Julian Guthrie and his team.”

Stephen Langton

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