Dune Trilogy

Architectural Review, The, Nov, 2000 by Violet Gore

In New Zealand, a house dug into a coastal site clusters around a sheltered internal courtyard and has spectacular views over the sea, dunes and farmland.

The family house, by Craig Craig Mailer, settles into a coastal site some 3km from West Coast Beach at Peka Peka, one hour's drive north from Wellington. The site is exceptional -- 6.5 hectares of land, changing in character from low wetlands to undulating, tussock covered dunes.

When acquired by the clients, there existed a drive leading to a hollow between the dunes, and spilling down a bank facing west over the sea. To the south is farmland, and to the east the Tararuas, a range of hills running from Pukerua Bay to the north of Otakil. Weather can be extreme, the climate producing idyllically still hot days and abrasive howling winds.

In response to site and climate, and to the clients' request for a dwelling that would satisfy the family's social, spiritual and aesthetic sensibilities, the architects conceived the idea of tents pitched around a central space. Placed in the hollow, the house is backed north-east into the slope of a dune and consists of three wings linked around a courtyard with a swimming pool. To make it comfortable throughout the year, the courtyard was roofed.

Living areas in the west wing look towards the sea over a generous verandah, the northern periphery of which curves with the contours of the land and embraces seating. Away from the sea, living and dining rooms open into the internal court. To the north-east, a day/bed-room tucked into the dune under a turfed roof gives onto a small sheltered terrace and provides refuge when the wind is high. On the other side, the house expands into a second storey, with a bedroom and study over another dayroom and terrace, to take advantage of spectacular southerly views.

Materials are simple: plastered concrete block walls which anchor the house into the sandhills, are combined with timber-framed walls, cedar cladding and cedar framed windows. Roofs are of corrugated iron drained by copper spouts and downpipes. Internally, finishes include painted plasterboard and various aromatic woods.

Architect

Craig Craig Moller

Design team

Gordon Moller, Tony Johnston,

Jodie Moller

1. South face, dunes, low wetlands and sea.

2. East face and entrance.

3. North-west corner, timber deck and verandah.

4. Sheltered north corner, concrete retaining wall.

5. Living room and fire.

6. Skylit internal courtyard and pool through to living room on west.

7. Pool and north room dug into dune with turf roof.

1. entrance

2. utility

3. wash-/bath-room

4. day-/bed-room

5. living

6. dining

7. kitchen

8. changing

9. shelter deck

10. deck/verandah

11. shutters

12. garage

13. study