Outside in

These gabled pavilions are much more than just roofs over their owners’ heads.

Pavilions-plus.

Tucked into a valley near Auckland’s Hobson Bay, this home by RTA Studio sees the gabled-roof vernacular of quintessential Kiwi state houses reinterpreted as a series of pavilions that house a family of five.

“Our clients actually lived here in an ex-state house prior to the build,” says project architect Michael Dalton. “It sat in the middle of the large section, and they were very short on space, so they were enthusiastic about the opportunity to utilise the land to its full potential.”

Taking their aesthetic cues from the street, the RTA team was inspired by the simplicity of the surrounding singlestorey dwellings. Following suit, once the original home was removed, they took those familiar gabled forms and pushed, pulled and repeated them to create a five-bedroom dwelling that stretches from the front to the back of the property.

“Being in an urban environment, planning rules and height in relation to boundary are always a consideration, and this naturally puts emphasis on building in the middle of the site,” says Michael. “We created a single-level building to maximise the available space, and what really interested us was dealing with the scale of the building by splitting the gable to utilise the inside-outside connection and create a series of different volumes.”

Opting for several interconnected pavilions rather than a single voluminous form gave RTA the opportunity to explore

courtyards as a hero feature of their design built by Ninety45, with the pavilions arranged around them for shelter and to allow sunlight into all parts of the house. The front door is located between two of the peaked structures and ushers you into a wide corridor below a flat, slatted-cedar ceiling. “This is the spine of the house,” says Michael. “Its generous size makes it a gallery-like space you can circulate through and filter off into different areas from.”

The section is longer than you can appreciate from the road and slopes steeply as it rises to the rear boundary. The split-level plan accommodates this incline, with the front of the home dedicated to public zones and the back reserved for private ones, the journey up the stairs to the bedrooms enhancing the sense of retreat.

To boost the west-facing home’s energy-efficiency, RTA arranged multiple windows on the northern side to achieve solar gain. High-performance ThermalHeart joinery was selected to regulate this gain as well as heat loss for increased comfort year-round. “Designing all the gabled forms with large openings from First Windows & Doors really maximises the light while allowing for a breeze through the house as well,” says Michael.

Stacker sliding doors bookend the living room, creating a wonderful sight line that extends from the leafy front courtyard to an internal courtyard that accommodates outdoor dining

ABOVE LEFT Key materials used in the kitchen include crown-cut American white oak and white lacquer for the cabinetry, exposed aggregate concrete tinted with black oxide for the flooring and Calacatta marble for the benchtop. ABOVE RIGHT Slatted screens over the streetfront stacker sliding doors by First Windows & Doors manage privacy and filter the late-afternoon sunlight. First Windows & Doors’ Metro Series ThermalHeart joinery was installed throughout the house for its superior insulation. BELOW RIGHT The hallway is one of several circulation spaces that are designed to be enjoyed as much as the destination spaces are. Tall windows running the length of it let light dance across the walls and floor as the sun shifts throughout the day.

ABOVE The family loves to cook and are also big fans of having everything tucked away — this U-shaped kitchen expertly caters to both and contains the activity within the open-plan living space. Carlielle Kitchens crafted all the cabinetry in the home and also assisted with the design of the handsome storage cupboard pictured below. BELOW Thanks to a pull-out bed, the office can double as a guest bedroom. Resene Half Sea Fog was used on the walls here and throughout the living spaces. Also on this wall is McLeavey Sat Here by John Reynolds.