MACFIE ARCHITECTURE ADNZ Resene Design Awards Submission - Small Residential

SMALL BUT MIGHTY - WHITFORD

The site, serving as a family farm for generations, with mature tree's, roaming hen's and a semi rural location, was the ideal for our clients dream home. 

After engaging with Michael Macfie of Macfie Architecture and during the initial design phases, Auckland's new unitary plan was introduced and now deemed the property unsubividable.

Some serious creative thinking came into play and a new strategy was formulated, the creation of a minor dwelling of 65m2, maximising the space with a 65m2 garage and multiple outdoor areas, stretching the permissible cover to its absolute limits.

High sweeping ceiling heights and ample natural light were designed to allow the space to feel more expansive than its tiny foot print. An exposed block wall with juxtaposing ply, and natural tones running fluidly throughout, all carefully considered and crafted to echo its natural surrounds. A retracting window running adjacent to the bath allows the outside in, perfectly framing a boundary line of mighty pines in a landscape portrait fashion.

The exterior is dressed in vertical cedar shiplap weatherboards and Metalcraft Espan vertical metal cladding, and stands strikingly against the rolling fields of farmland that surrounds it. With the long term goal of building multiple minor dwellings that are linked via decking and landscaping, this first stage of a long term family project leaves a small but mighty impression.

The brief; the design of a minor dwelling, 1 bedroom, one bathroom, open living space, garage with loft, a crafted and considered raw aesthetic, low maintenance and with the ability to allow for an additional phase of further minor dwellings to be added and interconnected in the future.

Photography by Tori Hayley