TOTARA HILL

this is a project for a house on the hill in taranaki, nz/ an addition to the family farm, but an opportunity to investigate scale & the texture of the landscape; the experience of the grass right up to the front door & the hills right away from the gate/

view once again dominates the programme/ how to deal with the connectiveness of the place on the hill/

something simple/ something crafted/ something that can grow a bit rough

a 2-stage proposal, the aim is to create a building that can breathe & absorb the landscape, with negative & positive space represented in subtle ways through the form of the building, but in a domestic way

CENTRE_ONE

CENTRE_ONE was the design name given to the Papatoetoe Multisport & Community Centre - a project initiated some 10years ago by a group of visionary club volunteers at the Kingswood Reserve in Papatoetoe, Auckland/ I became involved in 2007 & collectively we progressed the design at Hillery Priest Architecture until 2009/ recently, Pacific Environments took the design to the documentation phase & are now in mid-construction

it was an amazing project to work on: we had a great client [who was interested in lifting the design-standard of sport-community facilities]/ a highly supportive local Council/ a great team of consultants/ & an engaged community

the complex is due for completion in end-2010

NZIA Conference

NZIA CPD Presentation: Friday & Saturday 14th & 15th May 2010, SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre/

beside the lack of anyone outside Australasia, this event was well worthwhile/certainly re-instilled & gave me confidence of the value in sticking with what you believe - & why shouldn't we!

yay! for being design-led; doing the stuff we get the most satisfaction from; creating an environment we really want to work in; only show the projects we want to attract more of;... all of this & not taking things too seriously!

... the physical model is still alive & well!!

absolutely loved the detailing & crispness of Chenchow Little/ the animation & investigation madness of MCR/ the unbelievable arrogance with humour, intellect & well-readness of Angelo Candalepas

B1+B2

this is a current project I am doing with ArchOffice - two spec houses in the Newmarket-Remuera belt: an interesting in-between of stately mansions & 80's in-fill/

I was inspired to spend a Friday afternoon modeling to investigate as simpler a roof as I could, but with some form that you could experience from the exterior & interior/ I wanted to solve a roof form that described to me the site that we had in the leafy gully in Newmarket/

I stumbled on this image out of a book on the architecture of Eduardo Souto de Moura/

the texture, composition & balance of his buildings & their parts, in their setting is remarkable/ this image provided the confidence that I was on the right track to solving issues we faced with the consideration of light, privacy & site controls for B1+B2

the idea of opening & closing wall elements (solid or void) to offer privacy & frame views interest me/ the reference to the Remuera house model (solid base & light-clad structure above) & how this may be interpreted in the contemporary form, was something we discussed when I was with Hillery Priest Architecture/

the rear house roof is inverted to allow light into the living spaces & "flick" out to the view; the front roof is re-verted to allow light to penetrate behind/ together the roofs act to describe the terrain & vegetation that was beneath

RAHO

this project is for a Sydney-based family who wanted to reference, but not be literal to, the old family connections & history of the site, on Auckland's North Shore Bays: a new house; a new start; a new generation; new memories/ but in no way discarding that which made the sense of place

the project is driven by an investigation into the idea of the floating pavilion, with an overlay of retro & the suburban model: built-in furniture, pattern, happy families/ it is also driven by the pohutakawa tree to the north & the fantastic elevation for views out to the water/

how to deal with view? Hillery Priest's TL_ONE does this in a magical way - choosing to frame part of an expansive view rather than to open it all up/ framing the views for RAHO & allowing multiple spaces upon which to enjoy the experiences, were a driver/

at the time I was re-visiting the Case Study Houses (1945-1966) of L.A./ low-cost prototypes; structural clarity & openness; a merging of social & artistic concerns; indoor-outdoor living; of staged exhibitionism made famous by the images of Julius Shulman; & of new beginnings/ the parallel for the local context & built environment for this project was uncanny/ being a 70's kid myself, I totally related

the project aims to turn its back on neighbours & the scrub vegetation/ it will allow controlled entry of light & view into the south elevation/ privacy is maintained by the use of elongated slotted windows in the mid-cladding while the main views are framed to the water/ the balance of texture & material found in the Case Study Houses will be reinforced in this project with crazy paving to the courtyard to reflect the shadow of the protected pohutakawa tree canopy and by the sharpness of glass & steel/

the project is completed to concept stage