• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HomeWorldDesign

Architecture and Interior Design

Search projects, architects …

  • Architecture
    • Contemporary Houses
    • Renovation Projects
    • Vacation Houses
    • Eco-friendly houses
    • Small Houses
    • Country Houses
  • Interior Design
    • Modern apartments
    • Small apartments
    • Lofts
    • Penthouses
    • Warehouse Conversions
    • House Interior Design
  • Design
    • Furniture Design
    • Lighting Design
  • Restaurants
  • Hotels
  • Office Design
  • Retail Design
  • Submit Your Work

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool

December 10, 2018

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool

Project: Walled Courtyard House
Architects: Guy Tarrant Architects
Location: Point Chevalier, Auckland, New Zealand
Year 2017
Photographer: Patrick Reynolds

Text by Guy Tarrant:An urban walled courtyard house occupying a tough public site, this home was designed for my own family.

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 1

The plan is a response to the corner site’s wedge shape and northerly aspect, as well as the positive experience of living in a previous home with a courtyard arrangement. Discretionary planning permission allowed the house to be massed close to both street boundaries, increasing the courtyard area.

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 2

Brick construction references a material used in many of the original houses in the neighbourhood and provides a memory of the previous house on the site. It also creates the solidity required for privacy and sound protection from a busy road, and adds exterior and interior textural richness. Brick screens and an entrance portal are the only intrusions in the otherwise solid exterior form, which is intended to evoke the sense of a garden wall. As an alternative to conventional windows, and as a device to reinforce the house’s wall-like qualities, a continuous clerestory separates the floating timber-lined roof from the wall. In the space between the wall and the street, densely planted sunken gardens are intended to soften the brick and offer a verdant gift to the street.

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 3

The entire house is disposed around a central pool, valued as much for its sensory as recreational attributes. The simple plan form sees the house divided into two zones; public living areas orientated to the busier street side and bedrooms massed along the quieter side road.

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 4

The house’s impenetrable form and intimate relationship to the street challenge traditional perceptions of the New Zealand house typology. During construction there was endless speculation as to whether it might be a library or some other community facility. Now complete, it has been enthusiastically accepted, with people of all ages responding positively to both it and the surrounding gardens.

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 5

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 6

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 7

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 8

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 9

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 11

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 13

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 14

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 15

 

Walled Courtyard House Organised Around a Central Pool 17

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Featured Posts Houses

Innovative Sustainable Villa Built from Glass, Steel and Concrete

110-Year Old Heritage Villa in Auckland Transformed into a Cozy Family Home

Bardolph Gardens / Breathe Architecture

Bardolph Gardens / Breathe Architecture

Modern Country House with a Brazilian Farm Look

Gallery Residence

Gallery Residence / DeForest Architects

Footer

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Submit Your Work – Contact Us

Copyright© 2019


This website uses cookies
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Reject Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Necessary Always Enabled