The Pines at Matarangi is a special character strip along the beautiful Matarangi beachfront, celebrating architecture and a rugged engagement with the coastal land and a refined approach to beach living.

A pan-handle site, this was one of the pioneer houses in the Pines subdivision of Matarangi.

A relaxed holiday house for a family of 6, this house was to accommodate visiting friends with separate living areas for children and adults with an emphasis on the practicalities of sand and sun.

This project is the second in my exploration of the ‘great outdoors’ where the experience of being there was to be accentuated by the architecture, not subverted by a suburban typology.

Three distinct buildings were positioned to form a private sunny courtyard protected from the wind while still maintaining views to the sea. The main kitchen, dining, living is a public pavilion – a tent-like structure which can be opened up one or two sides depending on weather conditions. An accommodation block behind looks over and through. Children’s bunkrooms open to double-height living. Adult bedrooms above are withdrawn but open up to connect to the courtyard below. A third building, which supports a covered-way linking all three, houses a bathroom, laundry & storage for beach ‘toys’.

This distinction of space has successfully produced a quiet retreat accommodating varying sleeping patterns of a large group, flexibility of use and weather conditions, and the supreme area being the dramatically proportioned courtyard which is quite magical at night-time.

Materials have been utilised for their low maintenance and to articulate the different functions.

This has become a very popular short-term rental.