Project Description & Client Brief

Our clients approached us with the typical brief of designing a new home for them to retire to. The challenge, they are moving from the Richmond flats up onto the steep Richmond Hills. The design approach was to create a single level dwelling spanning the top of the site, allowing the clients to capture the full panoramic views without being impacted by the neighbor in front. The main bedroom and entry wraps along the West frontage above the garage, creating a privacy screen to the street and neighbors across the road. 

The board and batten cladding of the bedroom wing is extended as a screen to the entry garden, allowing the house to settle into the hillside while creating a softened transition zone between the motor court and entry. The guest wing is located behind the living and kitchen, able to be closed off during general use of the home while also providing a private space for guests with views over the terraced gardens to the East. The living spaces are spread across the length of the house, allowing the clients to move around to suit the sun, season and time of the day. Leading outside, the gardens wrap around the house in a series of terraces, while a concealed courtyard behind the dining room becomes a retreat during high winds and allows the clients a cozy reprieve from the open side of the house.

Site & Context

The home is located on a small steep section on the Richmond Hills with a predominantly 1:3 slope to the North, providing unimpeded views across Waimea Inlet. A large Tōtara tree dominates the south-west corner of the site, becoming a natural focal point for the dwelling as a grounding contrast to the open views to the North. The site is accessed from below in the West corner, allowing the opportunity to create a clean delineation between the hard landscape of the driveway, and the privacy of the home itself (after approaching the entry garden). Both the sites above and below were already constructed, allowing us to design around the existing roof and view lines to create a private home with minimal impact on its neighbours.

Constraints

Being a steep site on the Richmond Hills, the ground conditions and design of the retaining walls were key constraints to work around. Alongside the earthworks, the covenants set a defined maximum height for the building to reduce the impact of the home on the neighbor above the site. The project was also constructed through the 2021-22 period of material shortages and inflationary costs which were managed successfully throughout construction.

Material Selection

Durability, budget and ease of maintenance were key drivers for this project, with the design being conscious of the clients plans to retire into this home. Colorsteel wraps the rear of the home to provide a budget conscious, low maintenance cladding to the lesser occupied and service zones of the home. Contrasting this, Abodo Vulcan timber was introduced in the entry and around the deck where it could be easily maintained while providing a soft, biophilic cladding to evoke the relaxing atmosphere of a home. The main bedroom is wrapped in a ply and batten, with the batten continued across the steel structure of the entry garden as a screen. This cladding continues the rhythm of the metal cladding, while providing the texture and warmth of bandsawn timber, and the reduced maintenance of a painted cladding. Concrete blocks were chosen over precast concrete for the retaining walls, allowing the waterproofing of the retaining walls to be completed in a staged, safe manner without requiring further extensive trenching within close proximity of the neighbouring pool and boundary.

Continuing the concrete block around the motor court and garage allowed for a straightforward foundation with minimal maintenance and further enhances the contrast between the vehicle focused lower level and human-centered upper level. Traditional frame and truss construction was utilised for the majority of the build, with a small skillion roof section over the kitchen and dining that allows the dining area to retreat back from the deck and look up to the Tōtara above.

Shortlisted for the NZIA Nelson & Marlborough Architecture Awards 2024

Photography by Virginia Woolf Photography

Contractor | IMB Construction

Joiner | The Sellers Room

Landscape Architect | Meadow