Embracing the Ocean – V Beach House by Studio John Irving
Responding to the site and prevailing climatic conditions, the series of volumes that comprise V Beach House open to a protective and reclusive outdoor courtyard. Studio John Irving draws from the site’s terrain and environmental cues to propose a home that engages committedly with its site and opens up as an encompassing embrace of the ocean.
Tucked away to the north-east of the north island, V Beach House sits near Waipu Cove. Combining the owners’ love of the ocean and surf, the resulting home is an open embrace of its location, where encompassing generous views of the ocean can be appreciated from all angles. Formally, the volumes that comprise the home take shape around how the space is intended to function – namely as a home that facilitates an indoor-outdoor lifestyle. The formation of a three-sided courtyard creates a walled outdoor room away from the elements and prevailing coastal winds, carving a protective enclave for its residents and visitors. Studio John Irving references the coastal location, taking cues from tonality and palette to respond to the enviable site through openness and connection.
Built by Oliver Tuck Construction and with cabinetry by Hewe, V Beach House captures the essence of what it is to love and live by the ocean. The home is imagined as the ultimate surfer’s retreat, with easy access from the dwelling to the surf break below considered and integrated into the design. Although an occasional home, every convenience and contemporary consideration has been included and integrated into the design, resulting in it being suitable for long term stays, if needed. As the sun passes through and over the volumes, each of the varying indoor and outdoor spaces have been conjured to allow the home to respond to its climate and positioning.
Upon approach, the entry beckons as a break within the greater whole, centrally located, with small previews to the ocean beyond. As a whole, the home reads as a series of blocks that are stacked and respond to the stepped terrain in the same way that the platform access paths also do. There is a matched design language between the encasing architecture and the surrounding landscape, all broken down into staggered parts across the site. While protective on one side, wrapped cedar extends from the outside inward into the internal spaces. The home then opens generously to the other ocean side, as a reminder of place. Its namesake is expressed as a structural ‘v’ element that sits at the end of the open deck space and acts as a sculptural expressive component, further emphasised by the infinity edge of the pool.
