ML Pidcock - Resort Utopia

"I wanted a space that would welcome family and friends but which was also private and comforting, intimate enough for me."

She [the owner] also admires the way the contemporary addition complements the much-loved original house. "It honours the original design," she says.

"I think it's also very enjoyable to engage in a process based on trust: I trusted her judgment, and the builder and the labourers; there was a great feeling about it all. Lastly of all there's the pleasure of the result. Every day I'm here, I like it more."

Perched up on the edge of a cliff looking towards the city over the airport, this solid brick home on a battleaxe block offered wonderful opportunities for improvement. The existing house was small but well proportioned, well constructed and had a lovely feel. Coupled with the wonderful site, the client wanted to keep what could be kept and adapt it to better deal with the challenges of the future.

The house is entered down the battle axe drive from the south.  This part of the house is level with the flat garden area but was previously disconnected from the garden by the service areas, while the front of the house looks over the cliff below to the city.

The aim was to provide a nurturing, creative space where the owner could live/work happily on her own or entertain her many friends and family in various modes.

Remodeling the kitchen and family room on the southern side enabled us to connect directly to the garden. By springing the roof up to the north, we were able to bring the sun over the existing roof and deep into this new important living space. The structure and ceiling continues out over a covered external terrace, ensuring the integration between inside and outside. Sloping steel columns support a roof and pergola, and provide a framework for climbing plants to provide shading and softening from the west orientation. This also helps to announce the new entry and deliver visitors to the front door. An indigenous native garden completes the setting.

The existing sunroom on the cliff side of the house was updated with new windows and doors which open up to a timber deck. This provides a treehouse viewing platform bathed in sunlight with spectacular city and airport views. The space under the deck provides an excellent home for the water tanks.

The remainder of the house was repainted and rejuvinated, bringing it back to its former glory. Half of the large garage was converted to a studio, with a sleepout room over. This area provides great flexibility for accommodating family and friends when required.

The wide side path to the east that is not visable from the living areas has provided a perfect place for important daily services such as clothes drying, food growing, composting and recycling/rubbish collection.

The diverse spaces of the house are connected in a free flowing way, and allow the house to be enjoyed in different ways at various times of the day and year.

Caroline Pidcock
Graham Hunt
Katie Fincher

Builder                     Gambit Constructions with Michael Wilson
Structural engineer  Partridge Partners
Photographer           Dean Wilmot

Simple and intuitive methods for operating the house
Collaborative team approach
Provision of home office facilities
Location of house near local facilities
Food composting facilities
Convenient location of storage space for recycling
Convenient storage for bicycles to encourage use
Reduction in area for cars - given over to other uses

Good thermal performance of house
Good natural light and ventilation
Good views to the outside
Natural oils finish for timber floors throughout house
Low VOC paints

Improved thermal performance to result in minimal heating and cooling
Improved levels of insulation and thermal mass retained
Ability to zone areas of the house
Ceiling fans to bedrooms and living rooms
Well designed natural ventilation throughout house
Good natural light throughout house
Low energy lighting using fluorescents and LEDs
Instantaneous gas hot water heating
Photo voltaics for energy generation
Convenient, dedicated, sunny area for drying clothes

High performance water saving fixtures and appliances
Low water garden
2 x 5000 litre water tanks located under new deck connected to toilets, washing machine and landscape
House and garden designed to reduce stormwater runoff

Materials selected with thought given to reducing their impacts over their life
House designed to easily adapt to changing family lifestyles
Retention and extension of life for existing building and its materials
Timber from sustainably managed forests for new floor boards and decking

Size of project purposefully kept to the smallest possible
Built-on area kept to a minimum
Land used for building improved by project
Garden design to enhance local ecosystems and encourage local flora and fauna
Garden design inherent to house design  
Inclusion of food plants to help provide for family
Connection of living areas to garden to assist in better care