THE EVOLUTION OF THE DESIGN

by Fraser Horton

This design, as with any, went through an evolution process. Working with the client, the site, the brief and the budget, you test and refine and test and refine.

The key thing with this particular site was knowing exactly what the restrictions were so we could maximise the outcome.

The initial concepts were an exploration into the possibilties of the site. I tested out ideas of form and layout and together with Alex and Corban we reviewed the pro’s and con’s of the site. Eventually we arrived at a concept that we felt had a lot of important elements confirmed. This had an additional wing for a separate master bedroom, and slightly-too-complicated geometry. We decided to try and pair this back to save money, but also, an important consideration was having a decent amount of usable outdoor space. So we decided to lose the additional master wing and make the main space more efficient in its planning.

I then developed this concept to test material options and refine the planning layout. During this stage we moved the kitchen and living spaces around, tried different stair arrangements, and started to refine exterior details. We also engaged an engineer at this point to start to develop the structural design of the house.

At the end of this, all of the key parts of the design are decided and drawn, and we could then apply for a resource consent.

Once the resource consent was granted, we could then move to the detailed design stage where the construction drawings are documented.