Design notebook
Q&A with architect Ken Crosson
What attracted you to this project?
A family with interesting needs and aspirations and site. They are passionate, arty and I felt they would be receptive to some of our ideas.
The brick is striking in the setting – is it an underutilised building material in New Zealand?
Brick is an amazing material. It has a very human scale and is something that I used a lot when I was working in London. The New Zealand building tradition has been dominated by timber and while I like wood, brick in this context for these clients, who were used to dealing with clay, was an obvious fit. In terms of ‘lifetime costings’ it’s hard to beat.
What do you enjoy most about the home?
An enthusiastic family using and living in it as we hoped they would.