Allum St.

by Dorrington Atcheson Architects

Faceted and angular, with splayed walls and a saw-tooth roof, this home’s geometry was set by a chal-lenging site in Auckland’s Kohimarama. The section slopes steeply to the south while to the north a tall, monolithic structure overlooks it. Ensuring compliance to the fairly onerous planning controls was a chal-lenge and the position of some of the retaining walls meant our height to boundary planes had to be taken from fairly low.

The brief was comprehensive and succinct, including a list of 32 points and a curated selection of pho-tographs. Modernist industrial – the first phrase on the list – became the guiding mantra. “The owners wanted something that was not big or ostentatious from the street, and exposed steel trusses were a given from the word go,” says Tim. The site was large and sloped away to the reserve but the obvious solution of digging out a massive platform was off the menu. “The owners were keen to work as closely as possible with the lie of the land.”

The dwelling was divided into three main volumes, then twisted and shaped to comply with height-to-boundary rules. Spaces in between form mini courtyards, including one slivered into that important northern aspect.

Industrial and purposeful, the material palette features tilt-slab concrete walls. These blades define voids which are filled with full-height glazing. Steel roof trusses are reminiscent of a factory while plywood ceil-ings soften the aesthetic.

The entry offers the drama of a stairway edged in a raw-steel balustrade. There’s a sense of discovery as it steps down to the dining room, with a hint of the living room beyond.

The kitchen, an insertion into the main volume, is based on an idea from the Case Study houses. En-cased in a dark-stained Strandboard block, the yellow cabinetry within is a happy surprise.