Michelle Flatz knows she's a very lucky woman. Having a builder for a husband and an architect for a brother means she has ended up with a dream home that has been perfect for her family.
She and husband Wal bought a charming character-filled bungalow in 2003 intending to extend it so they'd have more space for themselves and the three sons they have between them. Michelle asked her brother, Dave Strachan, of Strachan Group Architects, if he could come up with an addition that would give them a spacious, warm living, dining and kitchen area that had good indoor/outdoor flow.
"He came over one day with his compass and a few ideas and we ended up with this," says Michelle, surveying what's now known as "the pavilion". "We absolutely love it - we spend most of our time in this part of the house."
At the rear of the home, the pavilion is a modern structure designed to complement the original house, rather than mimic it. It features a striking Meranti plywood sloping ceiling, a wall of glazed sliding doors that open right up to the north-facing deck and a polished concrete floor. Dave came up with clever ideas like putting several layers of polystyrene under the concrete floor for extra insulation. The pitch of the roof, which extends over the deck, lets low winter sun into the room to heat the concrete so that you'd swear there was underfloor heating. Similarly, the roof angle keeps the high summer sun out, leaving the area cool in the warmer months.
