Architecture Style

Situated on a secluded site within the busy metropolis of Mt Maunganui, New Zealand, this holiday home is sheltered behind a magnificent pohutukawa tree and one of the few original beach cottages remaining along the beach. The key objective of the brief was to produce a new home that provided greater flexibility for extended family holidays but was still reminiscent of the spirit and character of simple, relaxed, laid back holiday living currently experienced when the family use the original cottage.

The primary approach to this proposition was to design a single bedroom holiday home with the bedroom and open plan living area orientated towards the ocean view and the sun. However, the design of the home also discretely provides three additional sleeping areas for additional family and guests that does not intrude on the sense of the simple one bedroom holiday home.

The four bedroom holiday home was developed within a compact 135 sq metre rectangular plan, lifted out of the site to embrace natural light and to enhance views of the Pacific Ocean. Unlike the surrounding homes, the design of this home is intentionally relaxed and holiday-like, there is no front entry, the living area is open to the outside, and like camping, experiences of everyday activities are connected to the outdoors. A sheltered outdoor living area is formed between the new home and the cottage where family and friends can meet to share in conversation and social occasions.

Products and materials have been specifically chosen to reflect a simple and relaxed, yet highly refined and sustainable home; for example, painted plywood cladding contrasts with sophisticated sliding aluminium louvre panels, with insect mesh, used for private sleeping areas. When open, these panels provide light and connection to the outdoors, when closed the panels provide privacy from closely located neighbours, security when the home is not vacant and secure passive ventilation to sleeping areas during long hot summer nights.

The home has exceeded the owner’s expectations and as a measure of the success of the project, the owner’s have recently moved to their holiday home permanently.