Houzz Tour: Wood, Concrete and Colour Mix Stylishly in an Auckland Home
A creative brief for a carefree feel led to the construction of this playful and unique family home in New Zealand
When Auckland couple Mark and Susie Easterbrook made the decision to escape the rat race and move their young family southwest of the Central Business District to the suburbs of Auckland, they asked the team at Dorrington Atcheson Architects (DAA) to design them a home that reminded them of carefree days on camping holidays. They also wanted a separate dwelling on the same property where extended family would live. And so a main family home was created, along with an additional building that resembled the main one, but gave privacy.
‘We based our design on the utilitarian forms of a tent and a shed,’ says architect Tim Dorrington. The main house is a pavilion where the adults’ and kids’ bedrooms are separated by a tent-like timber canopy that shelters the living and kitchen areas. With a footprint of only 120 sq m, the planning in the house is meticulous. Clever design tricks, such as a ceiling that soars to 3.6m and plenty of floor-to-ceiling glass, allow the compact home to feel spacious. Playful blocks of colour are the final artistic touch that enhances the casual mood.
‘The structural style of this house is honest and the material palette is humble. It’s a house that tells the story of how it was made,’ says Dorrington.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here Mark and Susie Easterbrook, with their two young sons (10 and 5)
Location Auckland, New Zealand
Main house size 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Smaller house size 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Architect Dorrington Atcheson Architects (DAA)
That’s interesting The owners of this property commissioned the architects to design a mini version of their main house right alongside it where the grandparents could live
A surprise inside Mark and Susie chose the colour palette and say there is a ‘secret code’ to each colour. For instance, they used yellow for the boys’ rooms because ‘they are the sunshine of the family’, turquoise on the doors of the wet areas and red on the master bedroom door, which acts as a stop sign if it’s closed.
‘We based our design on the utilitarian forms of a tent and a shed,’ says architect Tim Dorrington. The main house is a pavilion where the adults’ and kids’ bedrooms are separated by a tent-like timber canopy that shelters the living and kitchen areas. With a footprint of only 120 sq m, the planning in the house is meticulous. Clever design tricks, such as a ceiling that soars to 3.6m and plenty of floor-to-ceiling glass, allow the compact home to feel spacious. Playful blocks of colour are the final artistic touch that enhances the casual mood.
‘The structural style of this house is honest and the material palette is humble. It’s a house that tells the story of how it was made,’ says Dorrington.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here Mark and Susie Easterbrook, with their two young sons (10 and 5)
Location Auckland, New Zealand
Main house size 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms
Smaller house size 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom
Architect Dorrington Atcheson Architects (DAA)
That’s interesting The owners of this property commissioned the architects to design a mini version of their main house right alongside it where the grandparents could live
A surprise inside Mark and Susie chose the colour palette and say there is a ‘secret code’ to each colour. For instance, they used yellow for the boys’ rooms because ‘they are the sunshine of the family’, turquoise on the doors of the wet areas and red on the master bedroom door, which acts as a stop sign if it’s closed.
Although the home and its smaller counterpart have just been completed, they appear long settled in their luscious environment. That’s a result of an honest design that harks back to vernacular buildings that were once found in this area. The exterior is cedar board-and-batten – a cladding material traditionally used on sheds. This is not a polished palette. ‘It’s a house that openly tells the story of how it was made,’ says Dorrington.
Humble material choices include plywood wall linings and concrete flooring, which gives the home an industrial feel. High ceilings that slope towards the sky, combined with full-height glazing, allow the low winter sunlight to flood into the main living space through clerestory windows. This warms the thermal mass of the floor, which slowly releases the heat throughout the day to maintain a more consistent internal temperature.
The house is made up of the more solid bookends of the bedroom blocks joined by a transparent living zone beneath a tent-like canopy. It has a slender footprint, being only 4m wide. ‘That’s generally enough space for most rooms,’ explains Dorrington, who nevertheless delved into his architectural bag of tricks to ensure a result that feels big on the inside. ‘The planning was meticulous, so there are no unnecessary passageways or “dead” space.’
Bursts of colour throughout appeal to the young and the young at heart. Shades of rich yellow (Resene ‘Supernova’), burnt orange (Resene ‘Chilean Fire’) and sports car red (Resene ‘Monza’) warm up the space and make the kitchen cabinetry look like something akin to a Mondrian painting. A mix of Gaboon Marine Plywood cabinetry and the MDF spray-finished in bold colour bring fun and no-nonsense functionality to the fore.
See 10 reasons to work yellow into your kitchen
See 10 reasons to work yellow into your kitchen
In the stepped-down living area, bench seats are built-in. The back of the banquette sofa has shelving where books are displayed. The cabinetry is also built in and acts as a room divider. Here, shelving houses art and other keepsakes along with the TV.
‘We designed sliding panels to disguise the TV set,’ says Dorrington. The homeowner chose to paint them a cheery red and added a bean bag to link the relaxed nature of the home with its décor.
‘We designed sliding panels to disguise the TV set,’ says Dorrington. The homeowner chose to paint them a cheery red and added a bean bag to link the relaxed nature of the home with its décor.
With no plasterboard or plaster to hide the construction, it was a matter of fine tuning the junctions. The idea was to allow the structural methodology of the glued laminated timber post and beam skeleton to shine, bolts and all.
The kitchen bench is extra wide, which allows the family to enjoy breakfast in this sunny spot, and the children to do their homework while their parents prepare an evening meal. Cavity sliders separate the kitchen area from an office. The board-and-batten cladding on the exterior of the building is carried on into the interior of this wall and brings the rustic beauty of a shed indoors.
In the en-suite bathroom, plywood cabinetry with routed handles houses a functional stainless-steel sink. White metro tiling is in keeping with the utilitarian nature of the unpretentious material choices. The rainshower suits the industrial look and is Hansa Designo.
Take a look at 10 magnificent ways to use metro tiles
Take a look at 10 magnificent ways to use metro tiles
The boys’ bedrooms have built-in bunk beds, which have been designed to emerge from an oversized window frame. Cut-outs in the frame act as a ladder to provide access. When the children get older, and study becomes more important than sleepovers, the mattress can be removed to instantly transform the bed into a desk.
The fun and functionality continues in the family bathroom, where the freestanding bath has been repurposed and repainted to give it a new lease of life. The primary colours in the home are a nice counterpoint to the neutral and natural materials used in its construction. White gloss metro tiles act as a sparkling backdrop, making this room feel fresh and clean. To keep the look consistent throughout the house, a Hansa Designo showerhead, bath spout and basin mixer were used.
What do you like about this family home in New Zealand? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.
What do you like about this family home in New Zealand? Share your thoughts in the Comments below.