Masterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2007
Across a line of trees, a railway line and a stretching station platform - inside the boundary, the cranked arm of a signal spotting the train (stop/go, red/green), a willfully stretching metaphor.
Kennedy Bay, New Zealand, 2006
Quintessential Kiwi Paradise - a hilltop on the edge of a coastline.
Renewable and low impact materials are used and the holiday home is a perfect combination of form and function. Above it’s architectural and aesthetic functions, the split divides the house into cosy, functional parcels of: living and dining downstairs; and sleeping and bathing above. It also aids in a vital task of collecting rainwater in the remote setting.
Wellington, New Zealand, 2001
The nerds take full revenge when the architect attempts to be the client, to take the skill that’s given personality. The echo of a familiar voice is heard… trust me! trust who?
The Skybox has a dual citizenship.
Gladstone, Masterton, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2007
“I love this house because it proves to the skeptics that you can build a straw bale house using a full complement of recycled elements and natural materials to create a home with an elegant and luxurious feel.”
Wellington, New Zealand, 1996
“Why live low to the ground when you can reach for the treetops, catching the light and the warmth of the sun? Why confine yourself within walls of paint and plaster when glass can provide both protection and a view?”
Home and Entertaining, Aug/Sept 2002
“…a combination of innovative conceptual design and considerable refinement of detail…an exquisite timber house that treats the senses.”
Martinborough, Wairarapa, New Zealand, 2002
“… A very elegant shed, nestled on the bucolic fringes of Martinborough … Down a shingle drive, past a pond and neatly planted natives, the ’shed’ resolves into a contemporary interpretation of the classic New Zealand bach.”
Otaki Gorge, New Zealand, 2001
“This Otaki River house extends the vernacular of the rural New Zealand barn towards all four points of the compass. Its site is a 5-acre garden on the eastern edge of the Otaki River Gorge, a deep, beech-lined trench meandering through a north-running valley with sinuous hills to west, east and south.
The house is totally timber…It explores the aesthetic/structural potential of the timber frame as a consistently exposed element of its architecture.”
Silverstream, New Zealand, 2003
The owner of the Samurai House is a celebrated martial arts exponent steeped in the cultural mores of his discipline. He requested a small, simple house amongst the trees of a tiny suburban forest.
The result is a half-opaque, half-transparent macrocarpa box with an L-shaped mezzanine bedroom/gallery skirting the interior of its solid walls before penetrating them with narrow promontories poked out into the trees.
Porirua, New Zealand, 2002
“The buildings were designed by Melling:Morse Architects Ltd who won the Origin Timber Design Award for commercial/public architecture in 2004 for the design.
The roofing and cladding is Onduline, a low maintenance, low impact material of organic fibres and bitumen made from recycled oil.
The wooden structure is largely untreated Macrocarpa, a sustainable New Zealand timber that does not need oiling or painting.
Almost all the windows and doors are reused and most of the fittings are recycled, including toilets, hand-basins, kitchen fittings, shelving and lighting”