There are lots of moments in the house which give me a sense of real delight, but I guess one of the
ones that I really like is the window mounted into the very thick wall near the top of the stairs,
and the way that the walls either side of the window fan out and so the light
hits the four walls in different ways every time you walk past it
and it's a kind of example of the way that the whole house was designed.
Hi I'm Pete Bossley, I'm an architect,
director at Bossley Architects and I was one of the architects working on this wonderful project.
So the project is located in Takapuna
on the shores of the Waitematā, the North Shore of Auckland, the sound from the waves lapping
on the shores is amplified by the overhanging soffites when you open the window and you feel
like you've got this intimate connection with the sea, like you're sitting right on the beach.
My name's Finn Scott and I'm a director at Bossley Architects
and I was a project architect and part of the design team on this project.
It's a long, thin site, so it has an issue of relating to the sea at one end and having the sun
coming in from the North on the side of the site but the house is designed to to take advantage
of that and to pick up on the flows of ancient streams running from Lake Pupuke out towards
the ocean. So the brief for the house was really quite simple and quite sophisticated in a way.
The client said, I'd like a house which is comfortable for me to be on my own
but it's also capable of accommodating the large, extending growing family that I have,
but he also said in a very sophisticated way really he said he wanted it to be a house
with art rather than an art gallery to live in.
My brief for the interiors was I think a little bit looser than the brief for the architects.
They wanted it to feel generous, welcoming,
they wanted it to be warm in temperature and in spirit and they also wanted it to have a soul.
I interpreted the rare as being unique and individual and the refined as being attention
to detail. When working with the materiality of the home, the place is actually loaded with
different products and finishes the one thing that's similar about them all is
that they have a patina, a craftedness, there's not a singularly toned surface,
well hardly any, there's always a sense of movement across the top of them.
From the big elements in the house down to the
small elements we've crafted the textures and the touch.
The front door handle has been shaped in the form that emanates the shape of the building above.
One of the main materials in the home is the use of in-situ concrete that allows you to manipulate
the material into fluid free forms, so there are a number of curving sculptural walls that
lead us into spaces and around and throughout the home. So there are a variety of windows and
openings in this home, that play an important role in drawing light deep into the plan.
Natural light is incredibly important in the way that the house is articulated, there are multiple
ways that light enters the house in some cases the light comes in reflected off a reflecting
pool, and bounces up onto the curving ceiling and creates a lot of lovely dappled reflections.
The reality of it, was that we had some fun along the way and I think it showed and the
quality of the design. The proof is standing here and seeing it, there's a real sense of calmness.
So there are a number of elements in this home that offer surprise and I think a big one is the
play on volumes in the space. I really love the fact that the clients have occupied it so well,
the house really feels lived in and so it really feels that they have taken the house on and the
house has taken them on and that gives one as an architect, a really good feeling.