Waipu House, Northland
Principal Architect - Darryl Sang Project Leader - Shashi Rafique High Performance House
Team - Vlada Acimovic, Linda Wen Interior Design - Mei Ling Lee
This high performance house will be built over the course of 2020/21. Check back here for updates.
Waipu House is located on the estuary, two hour drive from Auckland City. The site has a gentle slope to the line of red flowering pohutukawa trees on the water’s edge where the new high performance house will be built. The clients want to have a central courtyard surrounded by living areas.
The site is accessed from the south, with a curving driveway that leads to a drop off area. The focal point is a 9m corten steel tower that forms one side of the central courtyard that looks out to the sea. Living wings forms the other two sides. The gate leads you onto a meandering path to the front door, passing pockets of planting. An over-sized corten steel front door greets guests in front of the tower walkway. Leading into the heart of the house with the guest wing to the left and entertainment and private quarters to the right. This wing has exceptional views of the peaceful estuary.
The journey through the house blurs the boundary between inside and outside living, with large glass doors along the façade that slides back providing an unobstructed flow of space from the inside to the outside.
Other natural interior material palette consists of warm tones of tiled and timber floors. The choice of a smoked oak kitchen contrast with a duck egg blue and white butlers pantry, adding an element of surprise. Inspired by the local Hunderwasser toilets at Kawakawa, the clients want to installed a mosaic inspired guest toilet with a bottle wall. The choice of relaxation and tones of Steampunk playfulness makes this a very unique coastal retreat.
Inspired by their travels, the clients opted for a particular shade of yellow for the exterior finish to satisfy council LRV (Light Reflectance Value).
Waipu House stands as a testament to high design as an environmental ethic – a building that connects people to place.
Continuous Insulation
Heat Recovery Ventilation
Airtightness
High Performance Windows
Minimise Thermal Bridges