House Under Eaves

The project

MRTN Architects designed this 230 square metre house in a new subdivision at Point Wells, less than an hour from Auckland. It was one of the first homes on what had been pasture, so the design anticipates future neighbours while creating a sense of retreat and privacy from the street.

The architects used shadow as a material: an oversized dark roof rests on thick cedar-clad walls, and its deep black eaves shelter the house from heavy rain and frame views of the garden. From the road the house reads as a simple gable, recalling the early New Zealand modernists of the Group Architects. Inside, a split gable divides the plan, with the garage, entrance and guest bedrooms at the front and the living spaces and owners' bedroom at the rear, joined by a glazed link. The house was completed in 2016.