Perched high on the Port Hills

The best elevation on the Port Hills, east of Christchurch, is Mount Nice Tauhinukorokio, standing at 499 metres. To its south is Lyttelton Harbour Whakaraupō and on its northern slopes is the Christchurch coastal suburb of the identical title – Mount Nice.

The hill itself was as soon as house to a Kāti Māmoe pā (some 300 years in the past), and later to a trig station, after which farmland. In the present day, Mount Nice has an estimated inhabitants of virtually 4000 individuals unfold throughout its 247 hectares.

It’s right here that builder Nick Parsons and his spouse Marie purchased a steep 675m2 part in a high-wind zone on what can greatest be described as a ‘difficult’ website, excavated from a quarry. The home which had beforehand occupied the location had been demolished after the Christchurch earthquakes and Nick and Marie approached Max Capocaccia of MC Structure Studio (and previously Athfield Architects) to design them a house in response to the troublesome terrain and climatic situations.

“The location is on the prime of a valley,” explains Capocaccia, “overlooking an estuary under and with the ocean to the east. Because it’s pretty uncovered, we wished to create a home surroundings that’s primarily a cove, to supply a sense of enclosure and supply cowl from each the solar and the southerly winds.”

The ensuing plan is a home made up of two wings, which attain inwards to the centre of the location and meet on the coronary heart of the house.

On arrival from the south, the home seems embedded within the panorama, its exterior – half vertical timber shiplap, half tray steel wall cladding – nearly performing as a protecting protect that recedes into the encircling dense foliage. An entry bridge resembling an estuary pier weaves by way of and above the present mature bush, preserving the vegetation on the journey to the entrance door.

As soon as inside, in full distinction to the personal, windowless southern façade, the home opens to the northern solar and expansive views, offering a way of enclosure and considered one of launch at as soon as.

“Just like the Pantheon in Rome,” Capocaccia factors out, himself a local of the Italian metropolis the place he accomplished a Masters in structure, labored at his father’s follow and later established his personal follow earlier than shifting to New Zealand in 2007. The Pantheon is famend for the grandeur of its inside and, particularly, its immense rotunda topped with an oculus.

Capocaccia’s comparability, which he admits is, in fact, “a really large stretch”, refers back to the cedar batten-lined ceiling within the Parsons’ residing and eating area, to the left of the entrance entrance. Right here, the intention was to “open and soften the residing space, creating a bigger ambiance out of what’s primarily an intimate space.” The converging timber battens attain upwards to a central opening skylight, providing each gentle and cross-ventilation in addition to sound absorption.

The 233m2 construct took roughly a yr, commencing in August 2020 shortly after the nation got here out of the primary pandemic lockdown. Capocaccia says he and his purchasers labored proper to the restrict of most top to profit from the views and far of the design of the three-bedroom house was a collaborative course of. “The whole design course of was productive dialogue between myself, Nick and Marie over the feelings we wished from the area and the way we may obtain these.”

The sunshine-filled inside stairwell incorporates a concrete stair flanked by a sculptural metal and glass balustrade. Above hangs three Petrine brass pendants from Nightworks Studio. Different lighting consists of Monmouth Glass Twist pendants above the eating desk, and Dome pendants above the kitchen bench. Tiles within the kitchen and scullery are Hex XL Ecotones Denim Copper (248x286x5.3mm) and the main bedroom wallpaper continues the evocative temper with Emma Hayes’ Sediment Wallpaper – Forest. The grasp ensuite’s Venis Deco Mirage Darkish wall tiles present a tactile, woven impact and right here Capocaccia has repeated the oculus skylight design from the residing area, though with out the timber battening.

Architect and builder have additionally labored arduous to make sure this house performs nicely by way of insulation values, with the exterior insulation of the thermal concrete-blockwork mass offering managed thermal acquire and the improved cross-ventilation throughout summer season created by the chimney impact of rigorously positioned low-lying south-facing home windows and the opening skylight.

“We’re past proud of how our house has turned out,” says Marie. “It actually helps when you understand and belief your architects, both by fame or, as in our case, personally. We had beforehand labored with Max and his staff so when it got here to designing our own residence, we had an excellent understanding of how Max works and his expertise for getting one of the best out of a tough website whereas balancing the wants of the consumer.”

Marie says the staff labored nicely collectively from the outset – Max and architectural graduate Caleb Skene spending a substantial period of time on-site getting a really feel for the surrounds and extra time with Nick and Marie to grasp how they wished to reside and what they wished by way of format. “We didn’t want a big house, given that almost all of our household additionally lives in Christchurch, however we do love having household and mates over so we wished residing areas that had been inviting,” she says. “We additionally wished our master suite to be on the identical stage as our residing in order that was rather a lot on the upstairs stage. The outcome was that the one tweaks we needed to make to the unique idea plan had been minor.”

Marie and Nick stated that along with having belief in your architect, they extremely suggest taking a leap of religion on the subject of what could also be perceived because the extra “quirky” particulars proposed: “In our case, the timber battens operating over the kitchen ceiling and down the stairwell, the plaster hearth encompass and the balustrade particulars alongside the highest of the staircase,” they stated. “These have turned out to be a number of the issues that we like greatest and we simply can’t think about them not being there as a result of they add a lot extra depth and character. The result’s that we’re completely in love with our home and it actually has felt like house from the begin.”