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House of the Year Winner

This award-winning home is proof that it's possible for a home to be understated and have ‘wow' factor at the same time.

Situated at the end of a right-of-way, and largely hidden away behind an unassuming concrete block wall, the house gives little of itself away to anyone nosy enough to venture down the drive hoping for a peek at the home which was awarded first prize in the $550,000 - $1m category of the 2004 Registered Master Builder's House of Year Awards.

A sign reading ‘The Bach' on the wall next to the entry gate is a reference to the simple stylistic influences on this home, but it could also be seen as an amusing understatement, or a deliberate ploy to deflate expectation – all the better to elicit that ‘wow' from first time visitors as they step through the slatted metal gate into the courtyard.

That response is not only brought on by the home itself, or the beautifully composed courtyard, but also by the unexpected ‘see-through' living area – revealing spectacular 180° views of the upper reaches of Tauranga Harbour. Sliding glass doors on both sides of the living area mean that the room can be opened up to create a pavilion in the summer, with a free flow from the internal courtyard, through the house, to the lawn on the other side and the harbour beyond.

The house was built by Peter Blackie of Blackie Construction Ltd and was designed by Auckland architect, Robyn Bilkey. The design grew out of initial discussions with the owner who is a great admirer of the clean simple pavilion-like structures of the mid 20th century American modernist architects of the likes of Mies Van der Rohe. The owner also liked the simplicity and authenticity of the Kiwi bach tradition, particularly the creosoted weatherboard look teamed with white painted timber joinery. Elements of both can be seen in the finished home.

Robyn Bilkey says that although the American modernists and Kiwi bach builders of the 50s were major influences, the overriding consideration was to design a home that was unassuming and which worked with the site. “ What really drives the house is the site. For example, the two wings don't meet at right angles, they are aligned to the sun and to the view.”

The choice of materials followed from the reference to the kiwi bach.

“We chose Linea® Weatherboards rather than cedar because it was a less expensive option and it could take the dark colour which gave it the creosote look that we were after, while remaining stable.”

“It's a very stable product, we couldn't have done this with timber,” says Peter Blackie.

The aluminium joinery was chosen as a contemporary equivalent of the whilte painted timber joinery often used with the creosote weatherboards.

The wide soffits are another ‘50s style feature. Robyn specified Villaboard® Lining, another James Hardie product for those because it achieves a very smooth finish – and because of the wide sheet size it's particularly suitable for wide soffits.

Villaboard Lining has also been used under the tiles in all three bathrooms to provide a stable, water resistant substrate that helps to create a perfect finish.

If, as Mies van der Rohe once said, “God is in the details”, this is certainly a heavenly house.

From the precise stack-bonded concrete block walls in the courtyard, to the ply ceilings in the living area, to the carefully chosen square-lined door handles. It's the attention to detail that has added the X factor and transformed a simple, bach-like style, the end result is a highly-speced, beautifully detailed and finished home.

“It's beautifully built and finished,” Robyn says of Peter Blackie's craftsmanship.

This workmanship and attention to detail obviously found favour with the Registered Master Builder House of the Year Award judges too.

The judges' notes say: In every aspect, this contemporary home exhibits a consistency of quality, the finest of appropriate materials together with well integrated textures and colour scheme ensuring a compatibility with the natural feature of this lovely harbourside location… A simple, honest and sophisticated inner city home in a quiet and private setting.

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