By Julian Guthrie Architecture
This brief for this bach was to provide a total contrast to the owners' city home. They wished to have a very simple holiday home that engaged with the natural setting.
The scale of the house is deliberately compact at 100m2 internal area, for both reasons of economy and for the spatial quality such scale imparts. The house was very carefully sited to fit between stands of native bush and a north facing lawn area featuring a mature Puriri tree.
The house is split into separate cabin spaces beneath a single pitched roof form. The living space, sleeping spaces and utilities are separated by a breezeway stairwell, requiring an external transition between each room.
The roof form creates an intimate low volume to the seating area. As the land slopes down, the roof rises to accommodate a two level bedroom tower hugging the tree canopy.
The material palette is natural timber cladding to all exterior and interior surfaces, punctuated by blocks of bright colour.
Julian Guthrie is the director of Julian Guthrie Architecture Ltd, having led a practice since 1999. Julian Guthrie leads a boutique office team specialising in the design of innovative and enduring private homes and beach houses.
Julian’s work has received numerous awards from the New Zealand Institute of Architects, and been published extensively in both local and international publications.