Outtakes: Pahoia house by Warren and Mahoney

Our April/May issue Home of the Year issue featured this finalist in the award, a magnificent home near Tauranga designed by Andrew Barclay and Richard McGowan of Warren & Mahoney.The home is a linear ground-floor arrangement of bedrooms and living areas, with a black main bedroom suite and study on the black upper floor, which is placed transversely to the main volume of the house. In the shot below (all the photographs are by Patrick Reynolds), you can see the house on its beautiful peninsula site.

The home's owners asked Andrew and Richard for a home with sculptural lines, a sense of restfulness, and a focus on quality and permanence. The house was to be "simple and strong and bold" for a life of "reading, privacy and quietness." The two shots below show more clearly the relationship of the upper and lower volumes of the home, with the upper floor projecting over and providing shade for a lower-level terrace.

All the home's main spaces face north, including the outdoor room (shown below), which features a reflecting pool with a large sculpture by Paul Dibble. It's the beautiful outcome of the owners' desire to emulate the European concept of entering a courtyard before moving into the house proper. It's also a way of encouraging sheltered outdoor living by dissolving the barriers between indoors and out. Visitors pass under the bridge-like form of the home's upper floor before walking through the front door, which opens directly into the outdoor room.

The outdoor room is anchored, like the rest of the house, by a wall of travertine that acts as the building's spine (below).

The view below looks back from the outdoor room to the home's main entrance, featuring another sculpture by Paul Dibble across the driveway. 

The owners wanted the home to feel equally comfortable when their six children were around or when just the two of them were home. The main living area, entered from the outdoor room, is an intimate open-plan sequence of sunny sitting area, a kitchen and dining space and a compact formal sitting room with a fireplace.

When the (mostly adult) children are visiting, they have the home's west wing, with three bedrooms and a small living room. At the eastern end of the ground floor is a separate guest suite featuring this elegant ensuite bathroom.

Upstairs, a dark-painted library located behind the main bedroom makes for a comfortable winter evening retreat.

The view below is from the guest suite on the ground floor, a lovely perspective looking north over the estuary. Thanks again to our Home of the Year partner, Altherm Window Systems, for working with us to present these fantastic homes.

Outtakes: Home of the Year 2012

Every magazine shoot yields far more images than we can ever fit in our pages - so we like to take the opportunity to show you a few of our favourite outtakes here on the blog. This time, it's our Home of the Year 2012 by Herbst Architects, that marvellous structure amid a pohutukawa grove at Piha. The photographs are by Patrick Reynolds - and once again, a big thank you to our Home of the Year partners Altherm Window Systems for their support of the award. Thanks also to our intern, Jett Nichol, who's here for a week from Napier learning a bit about the magazine trade (as well as compiling these albums).

The image below shows the steps from the house out to the back deck, which catches the morning sun in summer. This opening also establishes a strong diagonal connection across the living space, as well as allowing cooling cross-breezes in summer.

In each bedroom, the walls have been lined in poplar ply, its light colour establishing a calm mood. This shot shows the main bedroom, which is entered via a mezzanine walkway above the living space.

The branch-like roof struts reinforce the relationship between the man-made structure and its natural surroundings, blurring the boundaries between the building and the tree canopy.

Inside, the tall timber wall (its cedar patterns mimicking the pattern of the bark outside) makes the living area undeniably cosy, despite the openness of space.

This view of the home shows the boardwalk drive platform leading to the carefully concealed single garage (which is under the main bedroom). The house was designed on piles positioned to avoid the pohutukawa roots on the site.

                                                                              

Brian MacKay-Lyons on Nine to Noon

The international member of our Home of the Year 2012 jury, Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, had a fascinating chat to Kathryn Ryan on Radio New Zealand National's Nine to Noon this morning. You can listen to the interview here:

Lance Herbst on Radio New Zealand National

Lance Herbst, one-half of our Home of the Year-winning architects Herbst Architects, was interview by Chris Whitta on Radio New Zealand National's Nine to Noon show yesterday. Here's the link to the audio:



Later this week, listen out for our Home of the Year judge, Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons, speaking to Kathryn Ryan on Nine to Noon, on Thursday April 12 at 11.20am.

On film: Home of the Year 2012

Welcome to the Home of the Year 2012 by Herbst Architects, filmed by Jeremy Toth (with still photography by Patrick Reynolds) and edited by Dean Foster (clever Renaissance man Dean also composed the music). Congratulations to Lance and Nicola and all our award finalists. Our Home of the Year issue, featuring much more coverage of this home and our four fantastic finalists, is on newsstands from Monday April 2.

And the winner is...

We're delighted to announce that the winner of the Home of the Year 2012 is 'Under Pohutukawa,' a holiday home at Piha by Lance and Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architects. You can see images of this amazing home and the four incredible finalists in the award in our new issue, which will be on newsstands on Monday April 2.

The cover shot was taken by Patrick Reynolds, as was the image of the home below. We've also made a short web film of the home which we'll be uploading soon. Thanks again to our Home of the Year partner, Altherm Window Systems, for their ongoing support of the award.

Our five 2012 Home of the Year finalists

All the shoots of the finalists in our 2012 Home of the Year are now in and being laid out, so we wanted to share these sneak peeks of our five finalists in the award with you. You'll be able to see all five homes in our lavish Home of the Year 2012 issue, on newsstands April 2.

So, in no particular order: this little bach is by Ken Crosson of Crosson Clarke Carnachan Architects, and is on Whangapoua Beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. The photo is by Jackie Meiring.

Another bach on the Coromandel Peninsula, this one at Onemana, a low-budget beauty designed and built by Dave Strachan of SGA Architects and Dave's students at the Unitec School of Architecture. If we were architecture students, we'd be stoked to have our first-ever creation named as a Home of the Year finalist. The photo is by Simon Devitt.

This home by Warren & Mahoney is on a beautiful peninsula just north of Tauranga. The photo is by Patrick Reynolds.

This home in an abundant garden near Wellington is by Alistair Luke, of Jasmax. The photo is by Paul McCredie.

Last but not least, this home at Piha is by Herbst Architects. The photo is by Patrick Reynolds.