Mapua House

Our client approached us to design their new move in the seaside suburb of Mapua, Nelson. They purchased the section in the last 80s and built the original 2 story house on the site. However, as they were now retiring they wanted a new high-performance home which was single level and fully accessible to allow them to enjoy their retirement. They had been living rurally for the last 20 plus years and wanted to make sure that they retained much of that rural feeling in their new home. To achieve this, we designed large wide corridors with full height glazing at the ends to frame a view the surrounding garden. We then wrapped the living area around a large deck and courtyard with lots of glazing to capture the afternoon sun. The living areas also featured high ceilings with high level window to provide additional light and make the space feel even larger. The construction of the walls, floor and roof allowed for significant amounts of insulation and together with the Mechanical Heat Recovery Ventilation system allow this high-performance home to moderate the indoor environment efficiently. Solar panels on the sleepout allows for further reducing their energy use, providing more resilience to electricity price increases of outages.