Matakana House

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This house is situated within the bucolic landscape of Matakana, overlooking Sugarloaf Hill to the North, wetland to the West and farmland to the East and South. To negotiate this pastoral site, shifts between the conditions of deep and shallow are made across multiple scales of composition, while notions of prospect and refuge are explored in program. The interplay between these conditions manifests as steps, rises, pivots, knots, gradients and shifts in lighting, always deployed in equipoise, in a constant equalising and balancing of effect.

The house is arranged as a broken courtyard, defined by a deep ‘L’ shaped plan, on one side and a landscape wall and sunken courtyard framing the pool to the West. Two wings are split along an intersecting axis of top lit corridors that breaks out into a large, informal kitchen and dining area. At the North end of the house the roof rises up to a clerestory while the adjacent snug room recedes into the ground. It is a dark and introverted refuge counterbalancing the lightness and clarity of the main living area.

Unlike an urban project that might privilege a specific facade, in this home every elevation has been considered. Timber battens line the exterior acting as a compositional tool, providing a textured relief that responds to and accentuates the rhythm of fenestration. The brick walls and podium negotiate the ground, stepping in and defining porches, seating, and gardens as spaces to inhabit within the façade.

Photographer: Sam Hartnett