Turning heads

By Kim Dungey

This East Taieri house consists of two pavilions, linked by a glass entrance foyer. Photos: Gregor Richardson.

All the bedrooms open on to the lawn through glass sliding doors.

North-facing windows make the most of the sun and views.

The black-and-white theme continues in the bathrooms.

A barn-red home framed in black is sparking interest in East Taieri. Kim Dungey reports.

Gerard and Carrol Perkins wanted their new home to be distinctive.

Not for them the cookie-cutter approach seen in some new developments.

"A lot of modern subdivisions today have a Coronation Street look to them," Mr Perkins says, adding many of the houses have similar designs and identical fencing.

"We wanted a house that didn’t [necessarily] look like the one down the road."

Black and red make a striking colour combination.

Located in a new subdivision in East Taieri, the Perkins’ compact home is all clean lines and eye-catching colours.

The Reece Warnock design was a winner at the 2017 Otago-Southland architectural designers’ awards, where the judges said the contemporary material palette — bold colour, flat tray roofing and cedar cladding — updated a vernacular building type and created a strong street presence. It received the awards for new homes between 150sq m and 300sq m and for use of colour.

A car sales manager and an ACC case manager, the Perkins had built a home with Warnock before and approached him with a folder full of ideas.

With their children no longer at home, they didn’t want "anything huge", but the design did need to provide for entertainment, privacy and flow through to outdoor spaces. They also favoured a pavilion-style house where the bedrooms would be separate from the more social living areas.

Macrocarpas standing on end around the courtyard are reflected in the glass doors.

Warnock, who set up his Outram-based practice in 2001, also lives in a pavilion house. The appeal, he says, lies in their timeless design and their symmetry.

On the Riccarton Rd site, one pavilion contains the open-plan kitchen/dining/living area; the other, bedrooms and bathrooms.

The pavilions are linked by a glazed entrance foyer and have a sunny courtyard in the space between them.

Large amounts of glass take advantage of the views: stacker sliding doors in the living area face north and north-west, providing access to the courtyard for entertaining; all three bedrooms open through sliding doors to the terrace and lawn.

High-level glazing floods the kitchen with natural light while giving privacy from neighbouring properties.

The living pavilion has a skillion ceiling, making it appear larger than it is, and a low-level fireplace that provides subtle separation between the lounge and dining areas.

At the back of the 1050sq m site is a large separate garage housing old Chevrolets and Buicks owned by Mr Perkins, a life member of the Conrodders Hot Rod and Custom Car Club.

Wooden kitchen benches and a post and rail boundary fence are nods to the semi-rural setting but the couple wanted a contemporary look for the 177sq m, Ash Barron-built home.

Buying many of the fixtures and fittings themselves helped with their budget and they were also involved in the landscaping.

The entry links the two pavilions and has a sliding door through to the courtyard. The concrete floor absorbs heat from the sun.

Warmed by the wood burner and two heat pumps, the house has low-emission glazing, a cavity slider which enables them to close off and heat only the living pavilion in winter, and a polished concrete floor in the entry which absorbs heat from the sun during the day and releases it as temperatures fall later. A recent power bill was only $75.

The crisp black-and-white colour scheme contrasts with red furnishings and accessories. Though the painters questioned their decision to have black accent walls, thinking they would show marks and imperfections, the couple are happy with the result. One dark wall is a backdrop for the white kitchen cabinetry; another for a framed guitar signed by members of American rock band ZZ Top.

However, it is the exterior of the house that attracts the most attention.

A low-level central fireplace partially divides the living area from the dining area and kitchen.

"People pull up at weekends wanting to know the colour of the cedar and what the metal cladding is," Mr Perkins says.

For the record, the metal on the roof, barges and wing walls is Calder Stewart’s heritage tray profile in matte black and the red colour is Resene’s woodsman stain in Japanese maple.

The metal was chosen because it is low maintenance and the red, "because it goes well with black and gets away from the norm", he says.

"People don’t tend to take much risk with their exteriors ... We wanted something different."