The Alpine Terrace house is a cluster of simple blackened buildings set around a courtyard. The cluster is sited on a sloping terrace surrounded by mountain ranges overlooking the Wakatipu Basin in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.
The kitchen is the hub of the River Retreat with the deck slicing through the plan. The living space steps down into a light filled volume reaching out to the river.
This 135 square metre house is located in an inner city Wellington suburb. Tight sunlight planes from all four neighbours, luscious existing native vegetation and a steep slope on an unusually shaped site determined the folded boomerang shape.
Forest House was completed this year by NZ-based Fearon Hay Architects. Set at the foot of the Waitakere Ranges, the Forest House is a collection of timber clad, gabled structures. They slip past each other, opening spaces for courtyards, cooking and fire.
In the context of Auckland’s rugged west coast ‘Motutara’ is the arterial route that connects the west of Auckland to the black sands of Muriwai beach. ‘Motu’ is to sever, ‘Tara’ meaning for peak, describes the action of the road of this name which effectively severs the peak or highland of Muriwai from the low lying coast.
This beach house faces due east, looking over the sand dunes of Whangamata in the Coromandel, towards the South Pacific Ocean. The exterior is primarily clad in a ribbed terne, chosen for its mottled and dappled finish as it ages. Care was taken to ensure that the ribbed terne extrusion gave a sense of floating atop the solid base.
