The brief called for a long-term family home, one that could support the owners as they age while remaining highly functional for everyday family life. The house needed to work equally well indoors and out, provide shelter from the prevailing Timaru easterly winds, and balance openness to the street with a strong sense of privacy.

The site offered a semi-rural outlook, with the opportunity to borrow views across the road to the adjacent golf course. Capturing these views while maintaining a sense of enclosure and protection became a key driver of the design.

The response centres on a sheltered courtyard, around which the home is organised. This space acts as both a climatic buffer and the social heart of the house, a private outdoor room that fosters connection and everyday living. Internally, the planning is deliberately simple and legible, allowing spaces to flow naturally while maintaining clear relationships between public and private zones.

The natural fall of the site is used to advantage, with subtle level changes introducing spatial variation and reinforcing connections between spaces while framing views.

The primary living pavilion sits to the front of the site, opening directly to the pool and central courtyard. This establishes a strong connection between interior and exterior living, allowing spaces to extend outward while remaining protected from wind and sun.

A partially embedded lower-level gym anchors the building into the site, working with the natural topography to reduce visual impact and ground the architecture. This allows the upper pavilions to read as lighter, independent forms within the landscape.

Materiality reinforces both the architectural intent and the connection to place. A restrained palette of stone and timber is used consistently inside and out, creating continuity and warmth. Stone elements anchor the home, while timber linings and joinery introduce texture and a more intimate scale.