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A rural castle on a wind-swept hill, Parihoa House responds to the environment as a fortress enclosing a luxury sanctuary for family living.

Positioned in a rugged landscape with sometimes harsh weather this contemporary house nestles into the hillside with magnificent panoramic views of the coast. A tough exterior is contrasted with a serene interior by using a restrained, material based palette that will patina with age. The black stained boards of the exterior are echoed in the stain finished interior timber.

There is no modification to the landscape other than the sentry of the form itself. Wind and sea spray thunders up from the ocean some 60 metres below and the form wraps around to protect a circulation courtyard from the rugged and harsh coastal environment. The resulting structure defends that same environment.

The home is arranged as a series of spaces linked by way of the circulation courtyard and secret doors, discovering forms and shapes seemingly arbitrarily positioned, yet suggesting a history; a sense of transcended time. Long views across the protected courtyard end on the all persuasive horizon, moving toward the edges of the structure, the ocean and sky open up above and below, until the view’s full breadth is revealed.

Photography by Jean-Luc Laloux

Patterson Associates
Auckland
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Patterson Associates Limited is one of New Zealand’s leading architecture practices, founded in 1988 by NZIA Gold Medallist architect Andrew Patterson. In 2004 Davor Popadich and Andrew Mitchell joined the firm as directors, helping shape Patterson Associates into a multi award-winning studio with an international reputation.

Our practice is recognised for our wide range of innovative work in architecture, urban design, and sustainable design. Our expertise is broad, and includes master planning, urban infrastructure design, commercial, mixed-use, civic, multi residential, and single residential homes.

We believe in creating architecture that explores the relationship between people and landscape in order to create a sense of personal belonging. Our approach to each building is a unique collaboration between our clients, their site, and us.