Piha House

The owner of this property wanted to set up a contemporary pavilion on the hillside of Piha. The brief was to ensure a maximized outlook be obtained over to Lion Rock and over Piha Beach. It was important that internal spaces including the kitchen, dining and sunken lounge was to capitalize on this view.  The master bedroom was kept downstairs as a private sanctuary nestled among the surrounding bush.  An adjacent self-contained unit for guests was attached and linked to the main house with a glazed roof.  The house is sited so that it runs along the hillside, views are obtained by looking through the internal spaces.  The design is a departure from the traditional placement of every room requiring its own view of the surrounding area.  This ensures that each room has its own framed view of the surrounding area. The house settles itself into the hill and with the help of a dark random width, random depth cedar and a lighter rusticated cedar on the main dwelling.  This ensures the house is almost invisible from the beach.