The clients’ section although being in a suburban area, feels incredibly open as it borders a public Reserve area. The site is slightly elevated, with views over the reserve to the beautiful Kapiti coastline and some attractive native planting to the north and west perimeter. The project brief was to design a house that would take advantage of those views, as well as fitting in with the coastal environment.

The clients also desired to avoid the popular mono‐pitch buildings of recent times, as well as standard brick & tile "spec" houses and earlier 80’s mock Mediterranean homes, all of which feature in the surrounding neighbourhood. That said, the clients also didn’t envision a “modern statement” house with unnecessary and expensive features, but were very keen on a thermally efficient urban beach home, with accessible outdoor living areas and with abundant natural light throughout the interior.