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Waitī House by Crosson Architects and Ko & Ko
Designed to embrace the wild terrain of its locale, Waitī House captures warmth, comfort and natural connection through a stone-and-timber palette built around premium oak flooring from Forté.
Set on a rural site in Ōakura, within sight of New Zealand’s wild west coast, Waitī House by Crosson Architects is designed as a tribute to land, sky and sea. The homeowners, originally from Brazil, have humbly accepted custodianship of this piece of land and wanted to create a dwelling that celebrated their adopted homeland while acknowledging their roots. “The vision for this project was to create a family home that paid respect to the land, paid homage to the owners’ heritage and celebrated their interests and connection to the environment – the stars, bush and ocean,” says interior designer Thandi Tipene of Ko & Ko.
The celestial element of this environmental connection is subtly reinforced throughout the build, which, though firmly grounded in its coastal site, is always drawing the eye upwards. Timber panelled walls rise seamlessly to gabled roofs in the same material, and ladders lead to private lofts in the children’s bedrooms. For its stargazing owners, the parallelogram-shaped main house features a circular porthole and an intimate and protected inner courtyard with a spiralling staircase leading up to a roof platform, a unique vantage point from which to appreciate the star-freckled night sky.
Dwarfed by the vast majesty of sky and ocean and whipped by the brutal west coast winds, Waitī House is also designed as a space to hunker down in comfort. Low windows provide ventilation and calm garden views when the weather is wild; a sunken lounge room, a fully enveloped inner courtyard and a wide brim of protective eaves provide sheltered and comforting spaces.
This tranquil contrast with the raw beauty of the location was also achieved through the finishes, as Tipene explains: “A main objective of the home was to ensure our interior finishes and colour palette worked as a backdrop to the expansive views but also to create warmth and depth within a cohesive interior scheme. The Urban Copenhagen flooring from Forté – with its natural knot finish and golden tone – did just that.”
“We wanted to use a natural timber that added warmth to the design,” says Ken Crosson, director of Crosson Architects. “We decided to run the panels on the walls and ceiling for the main living area to blur the boundary between inside and out. The use of timber on the floor, ceiling and walls in the media room was to create more of an intimate space.”
The European oak engineered timber flooring forms the basis of a consistently calm palette of matte finishes and beige-blond tones, teamed with tactile travertine, marble and limestone, complementing oak veneer cabinetry and timber wall panels. “We custom-stained the timber wall panels and oak veneer throughout to work in unity with the timber flooring and travertine, marble and limestone finishes,” says Tipene. “It was important to create depth in the kitchen and cabinetry but ensure a softer timber tone on the walls and floor to reflect the light.” This timber finish interacts with the light differently throughout the day but always lends the home a warm glow.
Forté was invaluable in helping find precisely the right timber product, says Tipene: “They send samples instantly and offer so many different sizes and colours.” The result of that patient process has undeniably given Waitī House its warmth and intimacy. “Each time we use Forté, I am in awe of the finished result.”
Architecture by Crosson Architects. Interior design by Ko & Ko. Build by Chris Bell Construction. Flooring by Forté.
