Waiwetu Street House

Situated on a large rear section in Fendalton, the brief for called for a generous, but comfortable home to accommodate and bring up a young family, while allowing plenty of space to allow the owners to entertain at a large scale. The house was designed as a series of gable forms positioned in a linear manner, creating the appearance of a home not dissimilar to the famed houses of the Christchurch Style. Instead of using heavy concrete block to produce these forms, the gables are clad in natural-stained cedar timber to attain a house that appears to have a lighter impact on the ground in which it sits. The ground floor is occupied by the home’s numerous living, media, and play spaces, as well as garaging, and one bedroom; most of which either open to the sheltered entertaining courtyard or tennis court. Another three bedrooms and a master suite run along in the ‘top’ gable.