Trends New Zealand Volume 35 No 3 | Page 64

Previous pages: A feature cast-in-situ concrete wall with all imperfections retained offers a rugged counterpart to the polished concrete floor. The latter acts as a heat sink in the home – soaking up the day’s rays to then release the warmth back into the interior at night, when the air is cooler. A Rolf Benz sofa, Herman Miller Crosshatch chair, and Tom Dixon Offcut side table are some key pieces in the open-plan space, along with a Sahar Tessuto rug, and Gubi Grashoppa floorstanding light. \ search | save | share at windows to access the northern light and lighten up what is often the darkest part of a home. “Along with a dramatic height, the hall- way includes a wall in the same dark brick as the cladding, with designated bricks arranged to create a pattern that lightens in density as it rises. Another feature of the entry space is the riserless staircase, with treads in jarrah repur- posed from the original home on the site.” Riserless stair treads bring the advantage of transparency when looking from the front door down the hall and through a see-through breeze block wall to the central courtyard. The home is efficiently arranged, with three bedrooms and a secondary lounge/play room upstairs, and the main living and dining zone, master suite, and other spaces downstairs – an ideal separation for teenage years ahead. At the end of the hall, by the breeze block wall, the living and dining zone is directly to the left, with the kitchen at the near end of the room. As with the home, the kitchen lacks fussy detail, such as cabinet handles, to let its materiality shine. The living area also includes the dark brick for one of its two feature walls. The other is in in situ-cast concrete with all imperfections