One of our favourite images from our current issue is this one by Paul McCredie of a house in Kelburn, Wellington, by Simon Twose (the house was originally commissioned when Simon was working at Warren & Mahoney's Wellington office). This view looks from the home's bedroom wing across its courtyard, through the living areas and out to Wellington Harbour.
The home's owner, Brett Mainey, is also a builder - and a man who likes a challenge. So he asked Simon to design a house "that would be difficult to build". What resulted was a long, involved and ultimately rewarding collaboration between architect and client. As you can see in Paul's shot below, the house really stands out in its street of villas, its concrete facade demanding a response.
The home's entrance is set a little below the street, a sheltered spot out of the wind that opens onto the navigational fulcrum of the house - left to the bedroom wing, right to the living area.
In the left of this photo (below) you can see the home's central courtyard. Rather than leaving a small amount of space around the perimeter of the property, Simon designed the house so it pushed to the edges of its boundaries and concentrated this space in its courtyard instead.
