Ireland Rd

Designed in homage to New Zealand architecture from the 1970’s the project is a collection of three houses that spills down the hill towards the view in a delightful jumble of forms. It is hard to tell one house from the next, the line where one starts and finishes is intentionally blurred, as each house melds into its neighbour.

Overlooking the Panmure Basin with the property running adjacent to the public area that gives access to the water, the architecture makes the most of the available views, including the mature trees that line the basin’s edge.

The brief called for three family homes that were both cost effective and efficient, requiring little maintenance. Each house is split into two elements, a living area with associated kitchen and dining, opening to a large deck and expansive view. The second element contains the private spaces of the house, bedrooms and bathrooms.

As the site is south-facing and sloping, the sun and light from the north and views to the south were key elements of the design.

The composition of how the forms fit together was conceived to ensure enough light ingress for each property and to maximise views and privacy. Also central to the design are the common areas which were carefully planned to ensure less pressure on the site and a communal way of living, with the shared areas and services providing a unique way to connect with one’s neighbour.

Although steeply mono-pitched blocks are arranged around each other in an apparent jumble, the opposite is true. All areas have been carefully designed including the external living areas. These come in the form of a roof deck, large side decks and covered patio areas.

For construction retaining walls were built to create platforms to site the individual houses, as these step down the hill the retaining walls become walls of the houses themselves.

White painted vertical weatherboards and pre finished metal cladding for the more difficult to reach walls minimise ongoing maintenance.