Te Horo Beach House

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Situated just 300m from the water's edge at Te Horo Beach, this house has been designed so that it can transition from being a holiday house to a full-time residence.
To give the structure a sense of place, the floor plane was sunken into the sand dunes.
The cantilevered roof helps mitigate solar gain on the west-facing side of the house, which also happens to be where the view is.
The house has been divided into three zones—a lofty, open-plan living area to the north, bedrooms in the middle and on the south-facing margin utilities and an intimate outdoor area with hot tub, the perfect spot for watching the sun set.
While the monopitched cantilevered roof helps mitigate solar gain, clerestory windows admit natural light and allow sight lines from within the building of the nearby Tararua Ranges.
Carefully considered window apertures serve to frame significant elements within the viewscape.
The view across the dunes and water towards Kapiti Island was a significant factor in the siting of the house.
To preserve the feeling of being remote, the house was designed to be long, low and hunkered into the topography.
Afternoon sun streams into the open-plan living area through the clerestory windows.
From the start of the driveway the house is hidden by the dunes only to be slowly revealed as visitors draw near.
Vignettes of the landscape provide an ever-changing vista, while light and shadow from the feature pendant plays across the interior surface.
The west-facing deck enjoys plenty of sun while the concrete floor provides thermal mass ensuring the warmth gained during the day is slowly released at night.
Cedar cladding extends from the exterior to the interior, creating a seamless aesthetic and indoor-outdoor flow.
The free-standing kitchen unit does double-duty providing necessary storage for appliances and accessories, while also being an office niche on the reverse side.
Cedar joinery cleverly conceals a butler's pantry, providing extra storage and work space for when the owners are entertaining.

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First Light Studio Ltd