Our ‘River Retreat’ was a long-held passion, to design and build our own small home. The Auckland property market was escalating beyond our reach as we came across this beautiful long narrow site on the outskirts of Hamilton with stunning views facing the Waikato River and Hakarimata ranges beyond.

The simple skewed form of the house has an appropriate scale and presence within the wider landscape. On arrival visitors are lead up a path alongside tall cedar screens before stepping up onto deck and informally entering. 

Capturing this sense of informality was a key design driver in creating a small family home that felt like a retreat. The kitchen is the hub of the home with the deck slicing through the plan. The living space steps down into a light filled volume reaching out to the river. A mezzanine pulls over above with an exposed bookcase balustrade providing a sense of homeliness. The rear of the house delineated by the seamless pivot door provides a place to retreat. The Bach typology of blurring of spaces and breaking down of thresholds corresponds with the expressed natural materials and tectonic detailing.

Material Used :

1. Steel Fabrication – Merchant Industries
2. Cedar Rainscreen – Herman Pacific
3. Wood Oil – Drydens Woodoil
4. Cabinetry – King and co Kitchens
5. Paints - Resene