From the rear garden all levels of the home are visible but the most striking aspect is the horizontal and vertical lines of the board-form concrete structure framing a series of rooms, all opening onto sheltered outdoor spaces, planned within the compact footprint of the design.
The design also features narrow high windows along the northern side of the house which allows light to enter the internal spaces without having to use a large panoramic window. With the neighbour's boundary a metre away the line of narrow windows served a practical purpose.
“We used a very thick 400mm concrete wall to give a feeling of mass and to frame these, quite tricky to fit, rebated long windows,” explains Jack. “It took a lot of craftsmanship by Cameron Ireland - our builder - and his team to create this look. The mitred edges line up with the ridges of the board-form concrete from the exterior to the interior. It’s very impressive the level of detail he has produced.”
The long narrow windows offer privacy from the neighbours only allowing glimpses of the interior but letting in that all-important natural light.
Concrete craftsmanship for central Auckland home
Located in one of Auckland’s premier suburbs, this stunningly crafted home has been designed and built in amongst a variety of architectural styles and within a heritage zone. Jack McKinney, Director of the architectural firm of the same name, explains how he worked within the confines of heritage guidelines to create a contemporary home for his clients - predominantly using his favourite material – concrete.
“The client was very open to ideas for the design of the house and gave us a very functional brief on how many rooms they wanted and how they expected to live in the house which helped us lay it out on the site,” explains Jack. “We undertook some research into the house that was on site and it turned out it had been relocated there in the 1980s, so while it was period it was not original, allowing us to gain permission for the house to be removed.”
Jack says the Council’s heritage expert was very understanding of the clients’ hopes for the new property and worked closely with him and his own heritage expert to come up with a scheme that answered the brief as thoughtfully as possible within heritage guidelines.
“The mix of materials we used —in situ, (board-form) concrete, timber and coated stainless steel—were selected to allow the building to age gracefully, getting more beautiful as it gets older,” says Jack.
Heritage guidelines satisfied
“One of the heritage guidelines we were required to use in the design was to include the use of horizontal lines in relation to the cladding. We probably pushed the boundaries a bit with using board-form concrete to create these horizontal lines which meets most of the criteria and also covers the requirements for scale. The board used for the moulds is quite a narrow board at 75mm which is the same size we have used for the timber on the soffits and relates to the size and scale of the decking used. So it all ties in together.”
From the street, it appears to be a single-level home of balanced and symmetrical composition however the house is in fact three storeys, one at street level, one below and one beneath the roof.
The single level road frontage features a hipped roofline with large slots which Jack says accomplishes a couple of things. “Predominantly these slots bring northern light into the living room without the need for windows in the wall facing the neighbours. It creates light, privacy, an interesting volume of space throughout the living room and they also reveal the city beyond.”
At street level, the floor plan includes the main living areas and a guest bedroom.
“One of the considerations from Council pertained to the double garage, which originally was to have a solid door,” adds Jack. “They requested, due the street frontage, that it contain some windows. We took that suggestion on board and, with the good grace of the owners, took it to the extreme, creating glazed folding doors, all framed by a board-form concrete structure surround.”
Concrete craftsmanship
Concrete has been used extensively on the exterior and the interior with Jack designing a concrete board-form fireplace which, when you look closer, has a lot more to it.
“The fireplace just to the left of the stairs performs many functions,” adds Jack. “It operates as a balustrade, a feature fireplace, it has a pocket that incorporates a TV on a lift and it also acts as a table top. It was easy to draw but not as easy to construct for Cameron. Forming the top for this feature was a bit of a challenge for him as it had to be cast upside down, then lifted and flipped over and then made to look like it was a solid block with all the mitred edges joining up.”
“We have used Cameron Ireland Builders quite a few times. Cameron is very used to working on projects like this and seems to have an affinity for working with concrete. He works with Firth a lot and sorts out with them the best self-compacting concrete mixes and additives required to produce this type of finish. He really is a craftsman.”
Exploration of board – form concrete
“When it came to the brief from the clients they were very open minded which allowed us to explore how we could use concrete and take it to that next level,” says Jack.
“In my mind concrete - and in this case the board-form - offers so many positives. It doesn’t require further coatings, it’s going to look a bit more rugged over time which I really like, it’s fireproof which when built only a metre from the boundary solved a lot of practical problems, and it offers longevity. This building is going to outlast timber framed homes by a long way.”
“Even though concrete seems harsh the texture, with the knots and grains of the timber embedded in it, and the tones of board-form style makes it quite warm and welcoming. We definitely wanted the board lines -or ‘dags’ as they are called - to be fairly pronounced to help create the horizontal lines on the cladding to create interest and tick off one of the rules.”
“A lot of design decisions can be made on how you want concrete to look as it’s such an adaptable material. There are so many ways you can explore it as a designer. I love the material.”
Architect: Jack McKinney Architects
Builder: Cameron Ireland Builders
Location: Ponsonby, Auckland
Imagery: David Straight Photography
Product: Certified Concrete® - Insitu Self Compacting Concrete