Park Point House

Residential

14 Mar

This family home is intended as a retreat and place of gathering for the owners and their adult family.

John grew up in an Italian family and this house pays homage to that culture of social connection, food, children and the natural environment as the glue that binds. These concepts all resonate with Maori tradition and while John’s culture is foreign to New Zealand, these ideas of family gathering, sharing stories and food together are virtually identical. The house is a place of meeting and it borrows the simple Maori meeting house form of central ridge and large space for people to be together.

The first sketch of this home described a fallen Manuka log laying parallel to the contour of the land and the horizon beyond. This simple diagram informed virtually every design decision which followed. The dark stained timber exterior mimics the dark textured trunks of Kanuka and Manuka which fill the site, the rich, warm timber lined interior revealing the warmth and texture of a freshly cut log.

Location
Waiheke Island, Auckland

Date Completed
2024

Project Contact
John Sofo

Photography
Michael Ng

The interior is intentionally rich and dark. The contrast to the bright New Zealand light was intentionally exaggerated. The interior frames views of the landscape rather than drawing attention from it.

The home is very simply detailed so that form, materiality and visual connection to the landscape can take centre stage. The functional brief for the home was uncomplicated in that it should be a place where family and friends can come to enjoy each other’s company and reconnect.

The whole house is detailed in light weight timber framed construction. Only a few small pieces of steel are used to span large openings and to support the span of the ridge in the living space. Concrete is only used to fix the piles and pave the perimeter of the house.

John worked collaboratively with the builder, Jeff at Whelan Construction, on every aspect of how the house would be assembled, its materiality and interior detailing. Even the locations of every single interior and exterior visible fixing was deliberately considered. Locally sourced materials, building methodologies and capacity for locally sourced maintenance were all drivers of the design solutions adopted.

The site sits to the east of a short spit of land which is a short drive from Matitia. It looks out over the ocean past Whakanewha Regional Park and to the Coromandel ranges in the distance. The whole peninsula was cleared for farming approximately a century ago and then redeveloped for residential use in the 1980s. Much of the peninsula has first generation regrowth of kanuka and manuka trees and some second generation forest growth is just starting to establish. The owners spent two years clearing the site of gorse and other weeds before building commenced.

The native bush regrowth has been very rapid as has the return of native bird life. The building site sits just below the ridge to the west as this part of Waiheke is very exposed and suffers from regular and very strong prevailing westerlies. The ridge behind provides effective protection. The house sits parallel to the contour of the land which enables flat access to east and west sides and presents a long elevation to the easterly view and morning sun. As the building platform sits so high on the site, views over the tree canopy are maintained and will not be lost in future.