MY OUTDOOR ROOM
THREE DESIGNERS TALK TO MELINDA WILLIAMS ABOUT THEIR OUTDOOR SPACES AND HOW THEY’LL BE USING THEM THIS SUMMER CATHERINE DAVID AND MICHEL NEEFF REMUERA
Hidden on one of the fingers of water that extend back from the Orakei Basin, Catherine David and Michel Neeff’s backyard must be one of the most picturesque in Auckland. The compact piece of land, which the couple bought to build on nearly 20 years ago, overlooks a wide tidal inlet populated by ducks, pūkeko, herons and even occasional rare native wanderers like kōtuku and spoonbill.
Catherine — an architect and product designer by trade — designed their three-storey, clean-lined home herself, with large east-facing windows to make the most of the view. But although their property extended right down to the water’s edge, because it was boggy and somewhat overgrown, they spent little time at the bottom of the garden until they re-landscaped last year.
Years of watching the estuary birds create circular ripples on the water as they moved around, as well as the patterns of rain falling on the water, gave Catherine the sense that a series of circular decks would be the perfect fit for the backyard, “even though you don’t actually see a lot of round decks”.
Catherine had clear ideas about how she wanted the decking to look, but she called in designer Kirsten Sachs from Green Image Landscaping to work with her on the plantings and overall landscape design. “We decided we wanted something really lovely to look down on from the house, and I wanted a resort feel as well,” she explains. “The decks are supposed to look like water lilies, and when you come down, it’s supposed to be a journey, where you walk down the steps on one side, and you go back up the steps on the other.”
The trio of wooden decks sit gently on the natural formation of the coastline. “The whole idea is that it’s removable if need be,” says Catherine. Rising sea levels from climate change are less likely to be the impetus for moving the decks than the council deciding to make changes to building regulations at the water’s edge.
As there were already a range of established plants at the water’s edge, including Cape Reinga lilies and papyrus grass, Kirsten “recycled” some of the existing greenery by digging it up and replanting it in massed swathes.
Deep green native oioi reeds were added to mimic the rippling movement of the water and act as a natural filtration and stability system at the water’s edge. A well-established banana palm was left where it was and hardy, creeping ground covers and a row of native grislinia was added to grow in as a hedge.
Snaking through the oioi at the rear edge of the deck is a set of cast metal eels created by artist Sam Ludden. Catherine had seen his work at the Moko gallery at Hot Water Beach, where the couple own a holiday home, and decided to commission him a site-specific work. The eels are often accompanied in the reeds by Catherine and Michel’s three-legged cat, George, who spends much of his postamputation recovery time relaxing in the sun on the lily-pad decks.
Two outdoor rocking chairs were an end-of-line find by Catherine, who is a bit of a sourcing expert, having pulled together an eclectic interior collection for the couple’s home, as well as doing the interior design for ENT Associates, the medical practice that Michel co-founded in Remuera.
The chairs are likely to get extensive use through the summer as Catherine, Michel and their friends sit and enjoy the native birdlife, which Catherine says has flourished over the years. “There are so many more birds around these days. I think Tiritiri Matangi [an island sanctuary for native birdlife in the Hauraki Gulf] has done Auckland a huge service in increasing the native bird life.”
The landscaping has given a new lease of life to their outdoor space, she says. “Before this, I hardly used to come down here. I might have come down two or three times a year, and now I’m down here every day. It’s a suntrap in the mornings. Sometimes in winter I just lie spreadeagled here on the deck.” If Catherine and Michel are feeling energetic and the tide is in, they can cast off directly from the deck in their kayaks, and paddle up the river to the Orakei Basin.
They plan to spend the summer evenings enjoying drinks on the deck and enjoying the feeling of being outside of the city, while still in it. “We wanted this to feel like a tropical resort paradise,” says Catherine. “I think we’ve achieved it.”
TIM AND BRITTANY WEBBER COCKLE BAY
Growing up in the sunny, far eastern suburbs of Auckland, furniture designer Tim Webber enjoyed the water-based, outdoor lifestyle that comes from living within a few minutes’ walk of the beach. As an adult, he values that lifestyle enough to see the longer commute that comes with the area as a reasonable trade-off.
Tim launched his eponymous furniture brand in 2009, but until now hasn’t designed a range of pieces specifically for outside use (although some of the pieces in the indoor range, such as the popular Duffel Stool, can be used outside as well as in). But Tim says it’s long been in the back of his mind. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do. The New Zealand lifestyle is so much about the outdoors, especially over summertime, so I really wanted to design a range that spoke to that lifestyle.”
The concept for the range — which includes a dining table, sofa, armchair, coffee table, table lamp, and will have a fire pit added in due course — has been in development for a while, says Tim. Initially the launch was planned for last year, but a rush of large-scale commercial fit-outs, which is an area where the design brand is growing, meant the timing wasn’t right.
This year, though, Tim’s looking forward to putting the whole range through its first real-world summer in his own Cockle Bay backyard. Along with his wife, Brittany, and 10-month-old son Archie, Tim enjoys spending weekend afternoons out in the garden when time allows, and eating on their backyard deck.
With his home’s interior already populated heavily with his own designs, Tim took the concept of indoor-outdoor flow to the next level for his exterior collection, producing designs that drew influence from the softness and comfort of interior furniture, rather than the hardwearing style typical of much outdoor furniture.
“For example, the sofa’s in a really soft, textured fabric with a chunky weave so it’s really comfortable, not the boxy, hard, canvas look that you often find,” he says. “We wanted to go to the other end of the spectrum and find the softest fabric that we could. The cushions are also rounded with a softer feel, and we brought some of the detailing through from our indoor range.”
Steel and timber joinery gives the structure of the pieces durability, with the timber used being saligna, a locally grown eucalyptus often called New Zealand red eucalyptus or Sydney blue gum. Tim says the company is always looking for sustainable options when it comes to timber, and plans to offer more wood options for the range in the future, including a thermally modified pine from New Zealand company Abodo.
They’ll also be offering a range of fabric finishes for the armchair and sofa, working with the James Dunlop range, as they have in the past. The look for the fabrics will be clean and minimal, designed to work with the Duffel Ottoman collection, which has been recently rereleased in a range of more earthy, muted colours — “a burnt red, a moss green, a soft grey and we will also do black and white. They’re colours that will sit nicely against greenery.”
Over the summer, Tim’s looking forward to dining out on his own range, as well as trying to lick the garden into shape. “When we’re at home, most of our summer dinners will be outside on the deck. I like to spend the weekend in the garden — we definitely have a plan to do some more work there,” he says.
“It’s quite a nice backyard — it’s tiered on a slope with some really established trees, including some fruit trees — but it is a bit overgrown at the moment. It would be nice to have a bit more time to spend out there maintaining it, although that can be hard when you’ve got a young child.”
VIRGINIA AND CAREY THOMPSON ONETANGI, WAIHEKE ISLAND
A love of flowers and creativity runs in the blood of Virginia Thompson’s family. Her grandmother used to gather posies of violets and daffodils to sell, her mother is a watercolour artist and Virginia cofounded the Flower Gallery on Waiheke Island, where she lives with her husband, Carey, in Onetangi.
Virginia and her husband first came to the island as weekenders, spending holidays in a bach on the same section where they eventually built their permanent home. For many years Virginia ran her floral design business out of her home but eventually she was persuaded to open her own retail space.
The house they built has a combined living, dining and kitchen space, which opens up to a large deck that overlooks a patch of native bush and has a sweeping view over Onetangi beach. “We spend the majority of our time on that deck. The doors open up from the kitchen and dining area, so it’s quite lovely.”
The home’s main outdoor space isn’t immediately apparent. “When we first built the house I wanted it so that when you drove up, you didn’t see the view,” says Virginia. “It isn’t until you open the front door that you look right through the house and can see it.”
Built in solid concrete, the house has a minimal aesthetic that allows the landscape views to take centre stage. Virginia likes to bring the landscape inside through pot plants, and her own floral designs. “I always makes sure I have fresh flowers on the dining table because the ceiling is very high, so it gives it some balance.”
Because the view encompasses a stretch of native bush, Virginia likes her own designs to provide a contrast. “I often like flowers that look very natural and justpicked, greens, whites, with a touch of mauve to give it a lift.”
Virginia says she and her husband often eat on the deck, or use it when they have friends over. “It’s quite a sheltered area so the southerly winds come from behind us. It’s north facing so we get all-day sun to the last of the evening sun. Boats anchor at Onetangi beach so we have a lot to look at with the boats coming and going and the ships going past in the distance. It’s always changing in terms of the colours.”
With the richness of the native bush nearby, the area doesn’t need a lot of dressing. There are two seating areas, and two big loungers shaded by sun umbrellas. Two deckchairs in a striking stripe are favourites of Virginia’s — she re-covered them using fabric she sourced from Madder & Rouge in Newmarket, redoing the tassels herself.
With New Zealand Flowers Week coming up, Virginia is planning to spread the joy of flowers through a “random act of kindness” event — leaving bouquets of flowers in public places around Ostend for lucky passers-by to find and take home.
A couple of weeks back, the store left a bouquet on a bench seat across from their shop, says Virginia, and the finder brought it back into the shop because she thought someone had lost it. “When we told her it was actually left there as a gift, and it was hers to keep, she burst into tears. She said she’d had such a terrible day and it had really made her feel better to hear that. During New Zealand Flowers Week we’ll definitely be doing that again.” • New Zealand Flowers Week runs from November 5-11. For more information about events and promotions during the week, visit Nzflowersweek.co.nz