An Aspirational Coastal Home – Dune House by Fearon Hay

Born of a need to balance privacy with openness to the incredible coastal views, Dune House is a play on contrasts. Fearon Hay, in collaboration with Penny Hay Design, conjures an aspirational home on the dune.

Peering out over the popular east coast beach of Omaha in the north island of New Zealand, Dune House outwardly engages with its location and landscape, whilst also providing a sense of protected privacy for its residents. Named after its location upon the lush coastal site, the home sits structured formally, offering modernist lines of rectilinear persuasion that frame the views beyond. For the interiors, Fearon Hay joined forces with Penny Hay Design to capture the essence of a considered and luxurious family coastal home. Steering away from the typical and anticipated coastal temporary aesthetic, the home speaks to a sense of permanence and purpose.

With its own internal courtyard, the zones allocated throughout Dune House all open up, to each other, and to the central core around which everything pivots. The open living area is created as a transitionary zone of sorts, situated between the extensive outdoor terrace and the previously mentioned courtyard. Both sides offer an opportunity to engage beyond the perimeter walls and allow for varied experiences. The terrace engages with the ocean and expansive views, whereas the internal opening evokes a sense of sanctuary and retreat.

With privacy being key, the materiality of custom steel elements intersecting with a glass veil allow for filtering views into the spaces and establishing a connection to the patterns created by the movement of external light. The principles engrained into the planning, form and approach to interior tactility all come together to create a home imbued with personality.

Highlighting a sense of the luxury, the kitchen stands as a showcase within the home. The expansive use of polished brass as a feature, contrasted against the rawness of the formed concrete provides an interesting contradiction that challenges the expected. Meanwhile, fully operable sliding glass panelled doors allow for immersion beyond the home’s edge and full-height dense drapery adds an additional level of texture and richness to the internal space, where their movement in response to the coastal conditions has its own inherent calming effect.

Dune House plays with materiality and challenges the expected response to the coastal site and resulting architectural vernacular. Modernist and clean, Fearon Hay bring their signature timeless approach to form, together with a sensibility of the landscape and a clear appreciation for the unique beautiful site the home is fortunate to occupy.

Dune House outwardly engages with its location and landscape, whilst also providing a sense of protected privacy for its residents.

The terrace engages with the ocean and expansive views, whereas the internal opening evokes a sense of sanctuary and retreat.