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The client brief was for a strong, robust house that had to suit the environment and hold its own on the beach front. Firth’s Grey Masonry was chosen as it is a robust material that could be crafted on site and provided a concrete look yet in a nice scale. A double skin block design was developed to ensure the house was not only well insulated, watertight and durable for the coastal location, but to also achieve the look the homeowners were after.

This resulted in a masonry veneer exterior and a structural and insulated solid block interior, with a 50mm cavity between, making the house extremely well insulated, achieving the best possible R-Values.By taking advantage of concrete's thermal mass, in combination with good insulation and glazing, the masonry walls regulate internal temperatures to provide a healthy and energy efficient living environment throughout the year.

The attention to detail with the finishing on the home is evident, as the block leaves no room for error as there are no finishing lines, architraves, scotias, skirtings, making it a really accurate build.

With curved walls on the central staircase giving a softened effect to what would normally be a hard material and the honed, diamond ground finish providing a smooth surface, the overall feel of the large double storey house is quite soft and light.

Photography by ArchiPro

Pacific Environments Architects
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Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House
Forman Beach House

About the
Professional

Pacific Environments Architects is an environmentally focused architectural & urban design practice working towards the best outcomes for people, place and community.

With over 60 years experience, our portfolio showcases a diverse range of projects – master planning and urban design, civic and community centres, commercial buildings, retirement villages, large and small-scale residential, community housing, education facilities, sports and leisure and resort projects.

Whatever the size of your project, we have specialists from our team of 40 that can guide you through the design process. We support our services with a clear and cohesive design process. From briefing to project completion, including pre-purchase feasibility, site selection and contract administration, our goal is to provide an easy-to-follow and enjoyable experience.

An underlying philosophy at Pacific Environments is to promote environmentally sustainable and regenerative design. We believe that designing physical objects, the built environment and associated infrastructure to comply with the principles of social, economic and ecological sustainability are core to a constantly regenerating and self-sustaining ecosystem. Pacific Environments were early to adopt environmentally sustainable processes and methodologies in the practice, and were one of the founding signatories of New Zealand Architects Declare. As such, we are committed to strengthening our working practices to create architecture and urbanism that has a more positive impact on the world around us. We have recently joined Toitu Envirocare and are working towards becoming a certified carbon zero company by 2023.

The Pacific Environments team genuinely love what they do, our positive, energetic and ‘hands on’ approach along with a focus on understanding our clients’ needs means that we deliver tailored solutions, not generic answers.