Waiheke Island home with striking stacked stone facade
Patterson Associates have created this summer residence on Waiheke Island in New Zealand. The dominating external feature is the striking use of stacked Pyrite stone, a dense, colourful hard stone which can be stacked, etched and layered into earthy walls and textures. The rock mass of the home is like a bridge, open both sides to exploit both the beach frontage and the afternoon sun. Under this, its main living area nestles safely into the escarpment between a spacious easterly ocean-front pool terrace and a grotto-like western courtyard to the west. The owners often use this grotto as an outdoor movie theatre.
Bedroom suites are grouped above as finely scaled, romantic and louvred lookouts in the canopy line of the trees lining the clear waters of the beach. Behind the grotto is an intimate bunkroom. The home has been designed sustainably, using an innovative air heating system to provide an efficient, even temperature throughout. The home also incorporates an onsite waste treatment station and a reticulated water system with a large rain storage facility.