A HILLSIDE HAVEN - Featured on Grand Designs:
On roaming the site with our clients for the first site visit we found ourselves on a heavily treed gulch with an active watercourse perched on the edge of an eroding cliff, that afforded the occasional glimpse of the Manukau harbour through the foliage.
Our clients had lived at a different location on the site for 25 years and wanted to create a home that lived amongst the trees and opened up the views to the harbour.
Post and beam structural exoskeleton construction on variable piles was used allowing us to locate the floor levels to suit the tree canopy levels and get the structural envelope up as soon as possible. This allowed the house to sit above the gulch and provide platforms for viewing.
Full walls of windows open to two specific view lines, perpendicular to each other. One a vast view across the harbour, the other more dappled through mature pohutukawas. This axis provides the formal orientation of the house.
Externally the house is darkly finished timber products, to recede as much as possible into the bush setting. Internally clean white surfaces play off stainless steel and timber features to provide a restful environment where the differing views act as the main material.
This was an investigation in the use of systemized construction process to both help the ease of construction on a difficult site, and also to provide an enduring architectural result.
For more information about this Box™ project: https://www.box.co.nz/project/a-hillside-haven-with-views-of-the-manukau-harbour/
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.
We are architects, designers, and builders under one roof, offering an end-to-end architectural new build or renovation service.
We balance design flair with building pragmatism.
Our aim is to deliver a seamless, enjoyable and exciting design>build journey.
Subscribe to our email updates
Subscribe to our 6-part Design>Build email series
This was the seed of Box™. A strong belief that the best way to produce the best homes was through builders, designers and customers working in unison, not against one another.
Success comes through an understanding, appreciation and trust of each other’s expertise. This results in great design – part of which is building pragmatism. This combination of design and build practicality also leads to a unique company culture.
We have designed the way we work on the premise that all projects tend to go really well until the cost gets in the way.
As a result, we take our customers through what we believe to be an industry-leading process: the successful dance of design flair, construction knowledge and budget guidance.