SCHOOL ZONES:
Victoria Ave Primary, Remuera Intermediate.
CONTACT:
Leila MacDonald, 021 928 926, or David MacDonald, 021 650 901, Barfoot & Thompson.
As an architect, Malcolm Walker knows what he's going to get when a design takes shape on its site. "Sometimes you get more than the sum of its parts. That's the aim and that's what this design has achieved here."
Malcolm is taking a leisurely walk back through this home that he hasn't seen for a few years and which, eight years ago he handed over to his clients Paul and Cathy Jamieson as their family home.
This architect and his clients got a double helping of collaborative design-and-build here, putting together two houses on 2364sq m of land that they subdivided and which was once the croquet lawn and pool for the former Myers family home next door.
The Jamiesons bought this land in 2005 and moved in 2008 with their two young children for about a year until their similarly styled home on the lower site was completed.
Built of solid concrete with only a few timber/plaster board internal walls, this home has multiple living areas, an office and wine cellar on the ground level. The bedrooms and more bathrooms are in two wings upstairs.
Central to its functionality is the diffusion of natural light throughout from what Malcolm refers to as "the light core", the double-height 6m space in the open plan living area.
"It draws the natural light in and into the other rooms that flow off that."
Upstairs a big central transition/office in the landing separates the children's bedrooms to the east and the stepped up, long mezzanine hallway to the master bedroom wing and large west-facing deck.
"I always quite like to be able to see through a house, which you can do here," says the architect.
"It's a home that is complex but not complicated and that is nice."
Image 1 of 10: Natural light is the main character in this story. Photos / Ted Baghurst
The sum of these parts includes subtle design negatives and big picture positives, all adding up to something special in the eyes of the Jamieson family -- and another family with a discerning eye.
"If Goldilocks were here, she'd say it was 'just right'," says Paul of this home for its lightness, timeless design, complete privacy and elevated urban views.
The positives include designing both homes together even though all that is visible of the Jamieson's home is the pitch of the roof beyond the lower common solid wall. They aimed to achieve a home that related architecturally, given that they'd be driving past iton their way to their own from the tree-lined entry from Victoria Ave.
From the zinc roof reminiscent of Paris in the 1800s to the limestone hearth and leather-finished kitchen granite bench, this home reflects its owners' commitment to quality materials. This, their second collaborative project with Malcolm Walker, includes stylistic touches such as the tiered detail around the window frames, the rebated slated interior accent ceilings and soffits, vertical slats in the stairwell and negative detailing on the interior walls for subtle continuity.
In the family room, large sliding windows stack back to reveal deep sills that double as indoor and outdoor seating.
The separate adjacent family lounge can be closed off via a cavity sliding door, with the limestone of the floating hearth repeated in the threshold from the American oak flooring in the main living area out to the paved limestone of the poolside courtyard.
In the kitchen the splashback tiles are grey glass mosaics; in the bathrooms they are a variety of colourful glass mosaics.
For both men, this home is confirmation of their goal to create a home that would not date and remain relevant for long-term family living.
