An Enhanced Natural Setting – Fielding House by Cheshire Architects

Jutting out from its levelled earth platform, Fielding House sits overlooking the coastal setting and undulating golf links below. Immersing the building in its surroundings, Cheshire Architects combines textural and soft elements together within the rectangular form of the home to enhance its natural setting.

Located north of Auckland, Fielding House is nestled into its coastal locale of Te Arai, surrounded by soft natural grasses and subtly changing contoured terrain leading out to the adjacent sea. As both a place of respite and contemplation, the positioning of the home and its encasing floor-to-ceiling glass façade face form a pavilion-type structure, offering a place to observe nature, protected and contained from the elements. The formal qualities of the home take influence from the mid-century modernist movement, where long-spanning and uninterrupted horizontal planes form the overhead and underfloor platforms and panes of glass are inserted in between, reinforcing an openness. Internally, cone-shaped structures house key amenity while also providing a sense of relief from the continuous floorplan. Cheshire Architects brings elements of the outdoors inward through materiality and texture, softening the crisp outer shell and connecting the home to its site.

Cheshire Architects brings elements of the outdoors inward through materiality and texture, softening the crisp outer shell and connecting the home to its site.

Built by Lindesay Construction Ltd, together with landscaping by Boffa Miskell, Fielding House sits comfortably in its unique coastal location, with soft and natural immediate plantings to give the impression of permanence and anchor the home to its site. As it sits amongst a naturally occurring dunescape, ensuring minimal disruption to the overall organic shape of the area was key and adopting a low-profile form reduces distraction. With an emphasis on its enviable location, the opportunity to embrace the surrounding views was key to feeling immersed within the site. While the main spaces occupy the upper level, a lower level contains secondary spaces, storage, a garage and a guest suite.

The glass and timber clad long-spanning form is then broken by three conical structures, creating a balance between the linear built exterior and the environmental surrounds. Within each, the bathrooms, kitchen and fireplace hearth are positioned, all as key functional and gathering spaces within the home. Highlighting these through bold formal gestures creates an ease of flow and movement, while adding some welcomed formality, helping to define spaces without the traditional means. As each area within the home is experienced, the proximity to both form and the views beyond changes, offering subtle shifts to the views and an engagement with the formal elements. A variety of timber is used throughout, emphasising a textural warmth seen in the surrounds, while still maintaining a contemporary and considered refinement.

As each area within the home is experienced, the proximity to both form and the views beyond changes, offering subtle shifts to the views and an engagement with the formal elements.

Fielding House beautifully and subtly plays with openness and form, creating a balance between curved and linear elements, which change throughout the spaces, altering the lived experience. Cheshire Architects has taken full advantage of the enviable and remote location, opening up and embracing the surrounds, while using restraint to propose a contextually responsive home.