Real Gold at the End of the Rainbow

It’s an unusual choice to paint your house a moody shade of blue-green, but Resene Warrior was the only choice for Michael Parsons and Alison Grant. They’re a creative Wellington couple who were drawn to the way it looks through the day – from bold teal in direct sun, to shifting stormy sea tones in the dappled evening light. They teamed this with a sunny yellow front door – a powder-coat colour called ‘Intensity Moonlight’ – which welcomes visitors like a beacon.

When planning this house on a corner section of a new subdivision in Lower Hutt, there was plenty of room to manoeuvre but the challenge was to orient the spaces for privacy from emerging neighbours while ensuring a view to the north up the lush green Korokoro Valley.

So Box™ designed home to a (roughly) L-shaped configuration where the living opens up to the north and the service areas (garage, bathrooms and laundry) are grouped along the south-facing walls of the home.  In the embrace of the L, is a private, sheltered courtyard.

This is a house that has two architectural faces. On the northern aspect, it is designed to look like a traditional gable but elsewhere it is seen as a clearly contemporary design with soaring mono-pitch rooflines.

Inside, a high-level window above the kitchen cabinetry ushers in the morning sun, and built-in furnishings provide plenty of storage. One feature the couple loves is a seventies’-style room divider where they can place objects and books, but from the kitchen, still see  through to the hills and richly coloured sunsets, their daughter playing, or interact with family and friends.

The divider is a favourite feature for the pair, but they’re thrilled with many others aspects of their new place too. As the house slowly starts to fill with a rainbow array of art and furnishings – including a colourful ‘pixel’ rug – the architecture takes a back seat to the expression of their personality. And that’s exactly how it should be. “Walking through the house, I still find it thrilling that we actually live here,” says Michael.

For background to our values and approach visit: https://www.box.co.nz/design-build/box-the-architect-builder

Box™ design and build are a team of architects and builders based in Auckland. All rolled into one. We are focused on helping you build your dream home.