Back House is just that, a home at the back of another home, a minor dwelling for a young family to enjoy.
This home was designed to enhance the owners quality of life and to make the most of a small sunny spot in the rear garden. It’s compact, efficient and delightfully detailed with everything a home needs, all within a small 64sqm footprint. The form-making is intentionally kept very simple.
Rectilinear planning places service spaces along with the hallway and sleeping areas. The plan then narrows to the north to a single width space that stacks the kitchen, dining and living areas end on end. The roof form here reaches up to the north, with clerestory glazing allowing morning, north midday, then afternoon sun to enter the living spaces.
Prefabricated cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels were used as the construction method, reducing contractor travel and site time. Forming the floor, walls and roof structure, the CLT has been left exposed to the interior and finished with oil to express the warmth and beauty of the timber. Externally wrapped in a continuous blanket of PIR insulation, Siberian Larch cladding and a Color steel roof ensures this home is snug throughout the seasons. This is a small home with a big heart that will be enjoyed as it’s young family grows
Strachan Group Architects is a multiple award-winning Auckland practice. Grounded in a specific and detailed first-hand knowledge of construction the team brings a highly developed sense of craft to the task of creating sustainable buildings with precision and elegance.
The keen sense of attention that the practice brings to the interpretation of a client’s brief is equalled by a rich and complex understanding of how to respond to the subtleties of site, the impacts of the natural environment, and the many contexts within which a building must operate. To these qualities SGA adds a precise understanding of the requirements of construction, with an advanced level of experience of prefabrication and the use of digitally controlled machinery in the fabrication of building elements under tightly controlled conditions.
SGA takes pride in it's ability to communicate ideas about building as they develop in conversation with clients, consultants and contractors. This skill has been honed in the extensive involvement the practice has had in education, where it has delivered a number of design/build projects with architecture students that have been recognised by the New Zealand Institute of Architects by a series of Awards.
Recognised by their peers as an innovative and exciting practice, SGA consists of a group of highly skilled people with a diverse range of complimentary skills. This flexible team is highly attuned to new developments in the building industry, appreciated by their many clients and capable of undertaking work at any scale.