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The stunning east and western coastlines and rolling rural landscape from Puhoi to Waipu provide inspiring backdrops for some of New Zealand’s leading architects and house designers. Every year, this region invariably features in the top home design awards. 2020 is no exception, with six properties making it through to the shortlist for the Auckland Architecture Awards, including two on the Tawharanui Peninsula, and one Mangawhai home making it into the top six Home of the Year finalists. Mahurangi Matters takes a look at this year’s crop of exceptional local structures.
Boat Shed, Buckletons Beach – RTA Studio, Grey Lynn
The Boat Shed comprises two long, narrow rectangular buildings that rise up off the ground to give elevated views over Kawau Bay. The house has been built on piles that extend 12 metres into the ground to resist inundation, sea level rise or flooding, with a dry river bed dug underneath.
Reef House, Leigh – Strachan Group Architects, Kingsland
Reef House is a family affair, designed as a holiday home for a mother, her three adult sons and their families. It is built by two of the sons, Mitchell and Kirk, aka Bunting Brothers Construction. The site overlooks popular surf break Daniels Reef and has extensive ocean views to Hauturu Little Barrier Island.
Takatu House, Tawharanui – RTA Studio, Grey Lynn
Sitting proud on a hilltop on the Tawharanui Peninsula, Takatu House is a long, narrow statement in dark wood and burnt red steel overlooking Christian Bay. The linear plan features a central main living area, a covered outdoor living space at one end and two bedrooms at the other, with exterior sliding screens to control the afternoon sun.
Takatu Ridge House, Matakana – D Ross Brown: Rosso Design, Matakana, with studio/LWA, Westmere
High on Takatu Ridge, this airy three-bedroom house was designed to create a home with closer relationship to its exposed rural setting. Surrounding a protected central courtyard, the house looks west to maximise late afternoon sun, while northerly and east-facing decks make the most of spectacular views towards Leigh, and out to Omaha and the ocean.
Taumata Beach House, Omaha – Fearon Hay Architects, Parnell
Occupying the last beachside block at the southern end of Omaha Beach, Taumata consists of three concrete and glass buildings on a triangular site, wrapped around a central courtyard, with the widest frontal stretch giving uninterrupted views north across Omaha Bay to Ti Point and beyond.
Point Wells Cricket Club, Point Wells – Pac Studio, Auckland CBD
Point Wells now has its own cricket club and pavilion, thanks to this red weatherboard folly that rises up from a grass oval festooned with flags. The scaled-down clubhouse has a veranda, kitchen, change room and shower, plus a sleeping loft upstairs. The ground is used by local kids and social teams who play for the love of the game.
Home of the Year 2020 finalist
Dart, Mangawhai – Studio John Irving, Auckland CBD
High on a cliff north of Mangawhai Heads sits Dart, a perfectly triangular holiday home pointing due north from its site at Bream Tail Farm. With expansive views over farmland to the west and the ocean and islands to the east, Dart’s design maximises light and outlook along two sides, with two bedrooms at the southern base end and the main bedroom with its own private deck at the point. As well as providing a clean, simple design, the unusual layout ensures that if and when a neighbouring site to the north is built on, Dart will enjoy optimal privacy. Judges said the property was a direct and uncompromising response to the topography, and seemed anchored to the hill.
