IN BERHAMPORE, NEW ZEALAND, a town known for its excessive winds, the team at Space Craft Architects were set a welcome challenge. “An open brief,” says Tim Gittos, co-founder of Space Craft Architects, “and a very restricted budget”. The site for the build also brought limitations, measuring a tiny 160 square metres. “We had often discussed the idea of building a tower on the site,” Tim explains. “But when we began looking at this, it became obvious that the opposite, a courtyard, would offer greater privacy, protection from the elements and sense of space/refuge on the site.” Luckily, the clients, who are good friends of the architects, were open to this idea. The outer face of the home features fireproof fibre cement sheeting, with native macrocarpa timber chosen for the…
