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Designed as a large family home in an established part of Christchurch, this house is a study of using textures and forms to provide presence. Centralised around the kitchen space, it needed to fill the needs of a busy family life, including both time together and separately.

White materials and variable textures were employed to change the appearance of the building through differing times of the day and year. As the sun moves across the building the shadows change to alter the overall appearance of the building, while the white reflects the colour of the sky.

As this was to be a long term home for the clients, a largely neutral interior was chosen with individuality and style added to the furnishings to allow the owners to regularly change the feel of the building and update the style more easily and regularly.

The approach to this building sets a welcoming scene for its occupants as they return home and for visiting guests. The lack of front fence and large amount of planting to the front boundary will give space and greenery to the neighborhood over time, while the side entry garage lessens the dominance of the garage door and the setback entry gives privacy to the occupants and sense of formality for guests.

As you enter the house you experience a generosity of space with a double height, light filled, entry, with shadows cast from the timber internal and aluminum external louvred screens. Beyond this is a welcoming flow through to the large open plan kitchen, dining and living rooms.

The functionality of the kitchen was a critical part of the brief; it needed to be large enough to be used by multiple occupants at one time and have several access points and easy access to the outdoor kitchen and BBQ area. The kitchen, being the center point of the home, is surrounded by a large dining area and a study nook off to the side. This allows all family members to come together and spend time around each other even during busy times of the day.

As a family home with potentially high energy consumption, it was important energy efficiency was addressed in this design. Careful detailing for thermal performance was incorporated, including the use of studsavers and other performance detailing to reduce any thermal bridging. As well as upgraded insulation and careful placement of windows to allow passive solar gain while limiting overheating. A factor in the design was the reflectance of the white; reducing the occurrence of overheating and lowering the long term maintenance of the materials and therefore lowering the carbon footprint of the building.

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Professional

Formerly Coll Architecture, Fabric is an award-winning Christchurch practice of architects and designers. We specialise in shaping bold, beautiful and highly functional spaces that are perfect for their surroundings and for the people who call them home.

We know that your space is part of the fabric of your existence, and creating it is personal. So we also specialise in shaping a great experience.

We get to know you, you get to know us. We learn your needs, wants, lifestyle and the lie of the land. You enjoy the benefit of our two decades of knowhow as we smooth away the sharp edges of process. Led by registered architect Mitchell Coll, our tight-knit team thinks big, works the detail and explores the what-ifs, and together we make good things happen.

Some of our spaces feature low energy, environmentally-conscious design and prefabricated construction. Others demonstrate the extent of our capability with the most technically challenging sites. All of them include thoughtful spatial planning around exciting form, efficiencies and flow, and creativity that ties architecture, interior and landscape together with inspiration.

Your space will feel right, connect you to your environment, and look as though it’s always been there.

We’re humbled that our work has been recognised within the industry, including in the ADNZ National Supreme and People’s Choice Awards, and the NZIA Local Multi-unit and Small Project Awards.

For your dream space, let’s talk.