Architect Ian Athfield doesn't do many houses - these days, his time is mostly occupied with larger projects such as stadiums and apartment towers. But that doesn't mean he's lost his touch: here at Mapua, near Nelson, he has created a fascinating home for Halfdan Hansen and Juliette Fox and their two daughters. The house is featured in our current issue, but we wanted to share some of Simon Devitt's shots of it here that we couldn't fit in our article.
Halfdan told Ath, as he's known, that he wanted a long, villa-like corridor. Ath delivered a more dramatic version of it, with a low, dark ceiling and dark floor. It creates a great feeling of compression when you're in it, making the light-filled spaces off it seem even more compelling.
As you travel down the hallway, every new space comes as a complete surprise. You can see this fishpond (above) out a small window from the hallway. The view below is from Juliette's studio across the pond to the main bedroom.
And this is the view of the house from the street (below), a mysterious object that almost demands to be explored. We hope the coverage of the house in our current issue is enough to satisfy the curious. We thank Juliette and Halfdan for their generosity in allowing us to publish the house, and applaud the creativity and inventiveness of their architect.
Architect Ian Athfield doesn't do many houses - these days, his time is mostly occupied with larger projects such as stadiums and apartment towers. But that doesn't mean he's lost his touch: here at Mapua, near Nelson, he has created a fascinating home for Halfdan Hansen and Juliette Fox and their two daughters. The house is featured in our current issue, but we wanted to share some of Simon Devitt's shots of it here that we couldn't fit in our article.
Halfdan told Ath, as he's known, that he wanted a long, villa-like corridor. Ath delivered a more dramatic version of it, with a low, dark ceiling and dark floor. It creates a great feeling of compression when you're in it, making the light-filled spaces off it seem even more compelling.
As you travel down the hallway, every new space comes as a complete surprise. You can see this fishpond (above) out a small window from the hallway. The view below is from Juliette's studio across the pond to the main bedroom. 
And this is the view of the house from the street (below), a mysterious object that almost demands to be explored. We hope the coverage of the house in our current issue is enough to satisfy the curious. We thank Juliette and Halfdan for their generosity in allowing us to publish the house, and applaud the creativity and inventiveness of their architect.
