Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2019 i Home New Zealand

I’ve always lived in small spaces – I’ve never loved the idea of excess space or rooms that are only used occasionally. And for some reason, which I don’t really understand, I can remember the size of almost all of them. I grew up in an inner-city cottage: 110 square metres, which at one point fitted six humans, two Labradors and a cat. Later, there was the apartment in Freemans Bay ‘Star Flats’, a roomy 72 square metres and two bedrooms, which felt like a palace after the 1960s 48-square-metre shoebox I lived in before that, and it felt positively gigantic compared to my one-bedroom London council flat. Two bedrooms! A separate laundry! The luxury! For a while, I rented a villa in Grey Lynn – at 140 square metres,…

In the past few years, Box 112 has redeveloped a series of heritage spaces around Christchurch into vibrant, city-making spaces combining offices, retail and hospitality. Collectively, they’re a charming bunch – warm, tactile spaces making use of buildings that were largely overlooked before the earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Their latest effort is The Yard, in a 1950s former printing hall positioned on the edge of ‘South Frame’, a new $28m government-led ‘green walkway’ precinct. This pedestrian-friendly area on the city fringe combines four gathering spaces, with a pedestrian and cycling corridor through its heart. “It’s an emerging and growing area,” says Box 112’s James Stringer, “and we love that there’s a wide range of industries and businesses here.” The Yard has light and volume with large windows and lofty…

The seed of Monmouth Glass was formed a number of years ago when Isaac Katzoff and Stephen Bradbourne started making glass together on a casual basis. Both artists were already highly experienced glassblowers – and it wasn’t long before they recognised their shared aesthetic and design beliefs. The pair formed Monmouth in 2012 with an emphasis on creating well-designed, hand-made glassware for everyday use, with an equal focus on functionality and beauty. Why open a store? We’ve had the dream of opening our own retail space for a couple for years now. We felt we really needed to showcase the Monmouth range in its own dedicated space, free from any distractions. The store fit-out is clean, minimal and modern, which allows the full product range to take centre stage. Who…

A decade or so ago, Nissan released the Leaf – the first serious attempt at an all-electric car. Laudable, but kind of ignored here until they started to roll in as Japanese imports. Although Nissan has sold a few hundred new cars here, there are now around 10,000 on our roads. Ten years on, Nissan is up to its fourth generation Leaf. The 2019 version has a different look – less anonymous, more concept car – with a few upgrades including a bigger battery, enough to do about 270km. It’s pitched at the suburban commuter, rather than those doing regular long drives, so it’s smooth and undemanding to drive. This is especially the case when using the ‘ePedal’, a one-pedal driving mode for both accelerating and braking, which charges the…

Large laundries are rare in homes today, but a compact laundry doesn’t mean compromising on a beautiful and functional space. Fisher & Paykel’s Washer Dryer Combo brings together both wash and dry elements within one appliance, perfect for any home where space is a luxury. Easily installed with no venting required, the Washer Dryer Combo can wash and dry an average load in less than three hours. Featuring specialised wash cycles such as Allergy, Cotton and Delicate, it’s designed to care for every type of fabric, while the ‘Add a Garment’ function allows you to add or remove items mid-cycle for total flexibility. Whether you choose to install the Washer Dryer Combo behind a panelled door or have it out for show, this hardworking 2-in-1 option is perfect for a…

Project ‘Top Shelf’, plus ‘Box & Tower’ Architect Spacecraft Architects & Melling Architects Location Miramar, Wellington Brief Design two family homes on a 406-square-metre section Q&A TIM GITTOS, SPACECRAFT ARCHITECTS How are you enjoying living there? We are loving it and enjoy the ongoing relationship between the two houses and families. What’s changed? Plants are growing up which softens the space between the two houses and creates another environment for the kids to play in as they get bigger. Any plans or projects for the future? We are working on a number of exciting co-housing developments – from four households to 20 – which take this idea of building collectively much further. Why do you think it works? Each house has an open aspect to the sun and view, while the massing of the…

This is the third project you’ve done with Adam and Dorset Construction. How important is that relationship? Sally Ogle— It’s pretty awesome. It makes it a lot easier when you know that person really well and understand how they work, and they understand how you work. We understand Adam’s strengths. The first decision made for this site was not to dig in too much. Why? Ben Mitchell-Anyon— We’ve floated it as much as possible. Retaining is really expensive, and once you’re on a steep site, you often need to get into rock anchors and that sort of thing. The civil engineering side of things gets horrendous and when you walk into a house, you don’t see $100,000 worth of anchors holding it to the hill. So this really only has the concrete…

Thirty-eight years ago, Tony and Lynne Carlin moved into a little 1940s weatherboard house on a big flat section in Auckland’s Mount Roskill. It has served as their family home ever since. Their children grew up there, moved away – and then over the past few years, they’ve slowly come home. First, Tony and Lynne extended their house to accommodate their daughter Amy and her three kids. Not long after, Tony clocked the changes wrought by the Auckland Unitary Plan, which has loosened the rules around infill housing on sites that were previously unable to be subdivided, and don’t always require a resource consent to do so. He realised quite quickly that the back yard, then a large vegetable garden, would make the perfect plot for daughter Kirstin Carlin and her partner Dan Arps,…

How long did the renovation take? Time in Sicily seems to move more slowly than other parts of the world. The construction phase took almost two years, which is much longer than you would normally expect. The emphasis on quality and innovation meant a steep learning curve for some of the contractors and subcontractors involved. Talk us through the ancient water supply. Historically, when building a new house, a cistern would have been carved out of the bedrock to collect rainwater – the only supply then. Most of the area is on a karstic limestone plateau that’s riven with caves and openings, such as the cave under the house. The cistern, and the adjacent one in the next house, may have been carved from an existing void. It must have been quite a feat of…

HOME editor Simon Farrell-Green briefed the crowd on kitchens that have recently featured in the magazine. Dark tones remain dominant, and so do natural materials that age well. The kitchen island has become almost a piece of sculpture. And the scullery or butler’s pantry is less relevant – though places to conceal mess are still something to covet. Designer David Moreland led a discussion about materials and quality, explaining why steel and American white oak remain his go-to. His collection of stools prompted a lengthy discussion about the relative merits of this ubiquitous furniture. Jason Mitchell from Kitchen Things Luxury explained the merits of the blast chiller, and discussed how your choice of appliances is answered by the way you cook. Over morning tea, the helpful folks from Blum held…

Project ‘Pyramid Scheme’ Practice Patchwork Architecture Location Mt Cook Our Best Small Home in Home of the Year 2017 is still the last word in good planning. Built on a tiny site, it contains three bedrooms and a study, and living spaces that connect to a sheltered courtyard. It’s smart living in a clever little house. Project ‘10x10’ Practice Patchwork Architecture Location Kilbirnie This issue’s cover home makes the most of a small, steep site with almost no buildable flat land. Anchored by a concrete core, the home floats above a busy road and has spectacular views from floor-to-ceiling windows. A whimsical roof deck completes the picture. Project ‘Skybox’ Practice Melling Morse Location Te Aro Tall and skinny, elevated above an existing building in central Wellington, the late Gerald Melling designed…

The word monotony is almost always used negatively, as are its synonyms: tedious, boring, uneventful, featureless and mind numbing. They conjure up the dull repetitiveness from which the modern mind – taught to value variety and immediate reward – recoils from in disgust. But this pejorative usage is only one side of the coin, since there can be beauty in monotonous phenomena. I doubt anyone has described the flow of a river or waves on a beach in such a way, although it would be entirely accurate. Artists have always found ways to create beauty from monotony. The paintings of Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin and many others have explored extreme simplicity and expansiveness. Over the course of 18 months, Monet painted 30 works depicting the same haystacks near his house. The…

Jessica Gernat The photographer spent a day with two artists who have built their home on family land in Mt Roskill, Auckland (p. 110). This is your first commission for HOME – tell us a little about yourself. I was born in Canada and raised a Kiwi – I’m a Caniwi. My journey has incorporated studies in architecture and photography and this career brings the two passions together. I find the end-to-end shoot process very special, shaped by spirited conversations with amazing designers and creators. What did you enjoy about photographing the home of two artists? Kirstin and Dan were so welcoming, spending time in their spaces filled with paintings and sculptures created by them and their friends was incredibly inspiring. Shooting over the course of a day gifted me…

The advantages of engineered flooring – once seen as second best to solid timber floors – have become manifest in the past few years, as home owners seek durability, ease of installation and sustainability. Artisan’s range of flooring is among the best on the market. A top layer of the best European oak is bonded to a multi-plywood base, which ensures stability and longevity. No top nails are required and there’s much less chance of gapping or cupping than with solid timber flooring. One of the major advantages is environmental. There’s less waste – about five percent, against 10 to 15 per cent with solid floors – and the timber comes with almost no VOC emissions, despite its quick installation. There’s a wide range of colours and finishes, from dark…

Over the past 20 years, Dane Mitchell has established himself as one of our most intriguing contemporary artists. He is known for his rigorous conceptual thinking, but also his deep interest in how spiritual and unseen forces shape our experience of the world. He is New Zealand’s official representative at the 58th Venice Biennale, and his exhibition, Post hoc, is a monumental exploration of the unseen. At its heart is an enormous list of “things” that have disappeared from our world – not just physical objects and species, but esoteric energies, meteorological events, languages and ideas. These lists are then broadcast around the city from a central venue, the Palazzina Canonica, via cell towers designed to look like pine trees. Anthony Byrt was at Post hoc’s opening in May, and…

Project Second dwelling Design Graeme Cunningham, Architecture & Environment Location Torbay, Auckland Brief Design to the view and future-proof for flexibility When Jeanette Smail held the housewarming for her new home by Graeme Cunningham, her friends applauded him. He’d achieved just what she wanted – a house that embraced the views and drew the sun’s warmth into an open-plan living area. The house sits at the top of the 1000-square-metre section Smail and her late husband bought in 1972 for several thousand dollars. Below is the family home where they raised their two daughters, and where one daughter now lives with her two children. Avoiding the expense of subdividing, the 120-square-metre abode is designed as a second dwelling on the site. The two-storey home has everything Smail needs on the…

Project  ‘HO1’ house Architect Braden Harford, Maguire & Harford Location Cashmere, Christchurch Brief Stage one of an eventual two-house development Q&A BRADEN HARFORD How are you enjoying living in the house? It’s still just as good coming home to it now as it was on the first day. What’s changed? A few more plants, both inside and out, including a vegetable garden. Any plans or projects for the future? In the short term, spending more time at home and not at work. Then it’s landscaping as soon as spring arrives – there are a few more areas to fill in, a barbecue area to go down, and a small garden shed to add. Long term, there’s a design for a matching townhouse waiting to be developed next door. Why do…

The home of architects Kate and Daniel Sullivan, a very convenient 50 metres from Sumner beach, is the first project they’ve worked on for themselves. The couple founded Architects’ Creative about eight years ago in Christchurch, where they’ve established their careers and work on a range of projects, including new residential and renovations. They keep their practice modest (three people) for its hands-on benefits. It’s an approach they extended to their home, right down to digging trenches for foundations. It was all a good learning experience as architects, they say. Eager as they were to create their own home, the Sullivans didn’t envisage such an extended undertaking, which evolved over two stages and two babies. But the “slow-architecture” approach has enriched the final result. Speaking of the opportunity as a…

Along with an open corridor, you originally had multi-coloured fibre cement panels on the cladding? You always want to push your clients a little bit – the original cladding concepts were trying to tap into their craft, a sort of pixelated mash-up. They looked at the drawings and then said, ‘look at us, we’re not extroverted eccentric artists’. And I realised at that point I’d projected onto them my own thoughts of what an artist would be. What was it like working with an extended family as clients? The first meeting was with the whole family, and as we progressed the design it was Kirstin and Dan. Once we finalised the design they came back together. It was just a nice design process and a really nice family – everyone…

Tokomaru is about 20 minutes south of Palmerston North and has a population of about 550. There’s a dairy, a school and a steam-engine museum. The roads are wide and letterboxes are marked with names, not just numbers. In 2015, Michelle and Paul, the owners of this home, became the town’s newest residents. Employed by the army, Paul’s career requires relocation every few years, so the couple knew well in advance where they were headed. With enough time on their hands to build in between postings, they bought 3700 square metres of land on the outskirts of town. The private, tree-clad section was home to mosquito colonies, but the crescent-shaped pond in the south-west edge sold it to them. The bank, however, wasn’t as easily convinced. With local house prices low,…

SEPTEMBER • HOME Tour Wellington OCTOBER • Oct/Nov issue on sale NOVEMBER • HOME Tour Auckland • Home of the Year call to entries DECEMBER • Dec/Jan issue on sale • Home of the Year entries close FEBRUARY • February/March issue on sale • Home of the Year judging and international judge lectures MARCH • Home of the Year 2020 finalists announced APRIL • Apr/May issue on sale • Home of the Year 2020 announced in Auckland MAY • In Conversation: Home of the Year winner JUNE • June/July issue on sale AUGUST • Aug/Sept issue on sale homemagazine.co.nz…

DETAILS A Place to Paint: Colin McCahon in Auckland 10 August 2019 – 27 January, 2020 From the Archive: Colin McCahon in Auckland Until 31 January, 2020 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Corner Kitchener & Wellesley Streets, Auckland For more information, visit: aucklandartgallery.com There are 25 key paintings from the gallery’s collection and from private collections. What can we expect to see? The exhibition is divided into three sections – 1950s, 1960s and 1970s – with a very focused sampling to give you a sense of McCahon’s major contribution to Auckland art. He came here in 1953 and spent the majority of his life here, so the exhibition really has to do with the works he painted between 1953 and the end of his career, around 1987. A number…

Jane MacDonnell— We started up Inhouse back in 1994 when I got pregnant. We wanted to have our baby with us and didn’t want to put her into daycare and go off to different jobs. So we started in the front room of our house in Kingsland, hence the name. Then we got a bit bigger, we moved to a studio in Ponsonby, then Britomart. While we loved it there, we yearned for a more domestic setting where life and work could coalesce seamlessly. Arch MacDonnell— An opportunity presented itself to relocate from the city to the leafy suburbs – a small original 60s house in Birkenhead backing onto Le Roys bush. We thought it would be great to go back to our origins. JM— We are such a small…

What does Three Quarter Society do and what’s behind the name? Dmitry Sedov (owner)— We are an independent Wellington specialty coffee bar serving exclusive single origin and blends, with beans sourced directly from plantations. When we were in search of the perfect flat white, we came to a three-quarter ratio, creating a stronger coffee with a less milky flavour. Since then, we’ve served the three-quarter flat white as our signature drink. Your new space was designed by Thomas Seear-Budd. Tell us about it. It’s open, full of light and gathers people around with the aroma of coffee and sound of beans grinding. The project had a clear focus on using natural materials. We wanted to achieve simplicity and clarity of design, showcase craftsmanship and create a calm atmosphere.  What materials…

The 1980s has something of an ill-deserved reputation for design. There might be some things we’d like to forget, but the decade also produced some quite lovely modern classics – including the handmade ‘Swing VIP’ lamp, by the late Jørgen Gammelgaard for Pandul, from 1983. Made from aluminium and steel, the lamp has a multi-adjustable shade, which increases the way it can be used and lends the product several identities. The shade is hand made in aluminium, the arm is brushed stainless steel and it comes in black or white. Gammelgaard started out as a cabinetmaker, before studying at the Danish Royal Academy, where he worked under Poul Kjaerholm and Ole Wanscher, and was later appointed professor of design. He went on to work in the studios of Arne Jacobsen, Mogens…

Coffee drinkers can attest to the despair that arises as the last beans in the bag run out of steam, lending an underwhelming start to your day. Kokako clearly empathises, which is why they recently introduced the Atmos vacuum coffee canister. The twist-top lid removes oxygen from canister and extends the life of beans by an impressive 50 percent. Made from matte black stainless steel, the canister successfully keeps light and air away from your precious single-origin. Atmos Vacuum Coffee Canister kokako.co.nz…

Vogel Street warehouse precinct A decade ago, the 19th-century warehouses that were built to house wool for export were virtually derelict. In the past few years, they’ve been restored and now house cafes (Vogel St Kitchen, Heritage Coffee and Precinct) and the new burger joint, Good Good. For a walking tour of the area, book in with Athol Parks of City Walks, who explains the boom, bust and rebirth of this regenerated precinct. citywalks.co.nz Architecture As well as neo-Gothic and brick heavyweights, there’s modernism, too. Moana Pool (60 Littlebourne Road, Roslyn) was designed in the 1950s by city architect Bill Hesson. Go early in the morning to see light spill through its wall of windows. At the port, you’ll find the Seafarers Building (2 Birch Street) designed in the 1960s…

Project  ‘Suitcase’ house Architect David Melling, Melling Architects Location Lyall Bay, Wellington Brief Fit a tiny home on a bush-clad site for a single occupant who travels often It’s fitting that Graeme Nicholls’ small home is nicknamed ‘Suitcase’ house – the flight manager spends more than 20 nights a month living out of a suitcase in hotel rooms here and across the Tasman. When Nicholls bought the section on a bush-clad hill above Wellington’s south coast five years ago, he took on a challenge: it was long and steep, with a flat area at the top and a rundown garage near the bottom. Nicholls was drawn to the sweeping view across Lyall Bay and wanted to frame that, but access to the top of the site was an issue. Instead,…

Project Christchurch townhouse Architect Mitchell Coll, Coll Architecture Location Central Christchurch Brief Design two compact dwellings on a 300-square-metre site, one to live in and one to rent Q&A MITCHELL COLL How are you enjoying living in the house? We love it. The tenants in the back unit also love the place, which is great for us – to have neighbours who value and look after it. The project was originally conceived to promote our ideas on what medium-density developments could be, but after seeing how nice it would be to live in, we decided to keep it for ourselves. We now can’t picture living anywhere else. What’s changed? Nothing. There are a few cost savings we think we would make if we were building the same thing again, but…

You’ve said the adaptive reuse of the original house was a sustainable approach, whereas others might have bowled it. Can you measure the costs of retaining and reusing as opposed to building new? Daniel Sullivan— We saw too much value in the original home to consider demolition – amazing cast in-situ features and character that simply can’t be replicated today. Fortunately, the structure of the building was incredibly sound. At a time when we had lost so many examples of unique masonry buildings in the earthquakes, we saw this as an opportunity to retain and enhance a building that clearly had so much love and energy put into it by the original owner. It took 12 years starting in 1940 for the house to be completed, plus the seven years…

Architect Mark Cannata describes the house he shares with his nine-year year old daughter, Mia, as a “stone caravan”. We’re talking in the modest entrance courtyard to his little house on the edge of Modica, in Sicily’s south-east. At 50 square metres, the 18th-century home qualifies as tiny by New Zealand standards and pretty small by European. Its small windows, thick stone walls and 200-year-old grape vines are typical of the area. The house feels like it has been there forever – and by New Zealand standards, it has. Cannata, who established his practice Zero Zero with Francis Scott in New Zealand in 2013, moved to Modica and opened a branch there in 2015. Modica and Auckland are on the same latitude – 36 degrees and 51 minutes – but…

Talk us through the placement and pattern of the skylights. They bring northern and eastern light into the main room, which otherwise has only western and southern aspects, and changing, dappled light and sun throughout the day. The skylights run down the walls that separate the main room from the smaller parts of the house and add to the feeling of this space being a sheltered outdoor area of a very different quality to the rest of the house.   You were working to a budget for a young couple – how did you keep that in check and what materials did you use? Cladding is economical Zincalume and there are exposed concrete floors throughout. Generally, the massing of the house was very important in cost control.   Creating simplicity allowed…

After a wonderful start in Auckland last year, HOME Tour returns in an expanded format – starting in Wellington this September. The tour features some of our favourite houses – all of which have featured in the magazine in recent years – along with their architects, who will be on hand to talk about their designs. As well as touring the houses, our friends at Fisher & Paykel – who have joined the tour as principal sponsor – will be catering to attendees throughout the day in an architecturally designed house, where there’ll be an opportunity to speak with members of their design team. HOME Tour opens the doors to houses that respond to site and brief, rather than trend or artifice. They’re unique, individual homes, tailored to their clients’ needs – we look forward…

“Entering the moist, warm air of the barrel-vaulted Tropical House on a cold, foggy morning in winter is a transporting experience. As well as revelling in colourful displays of flowers and ornamental vegetables, you can marvel at the intricacies of the structure. Ninety years old, it’s still fit for purpose, marrying form and function effortlessly. It’s the work of 44-year-old Aucklander William Gummer, of Gummer and Ford, which was formed in 1923. Gummer had stepped back into the Auckland scene a decade earlier, after years of study and working overseas. He had learned to detail grand country houses in England with Edwin Lutyens, and retained a predilection for brick and masonry. The influence of his time in America is evident in the stripped classicism of his monumental Auckland Railway Station, completed…