Cornege-preston House, Martinborough
The house was designed for a couple nearing retirement and wanting to run an occasional bed&breakfast as well as receive their two adult children.
The site is a 1 hectare plot, part of a rural subdivision on the outskirts of the village of Martinborough, in the wine making area of Wairarapa.
The silhouette of the building was conceived to adhere to the horizon drawn by surrounding hills.
The elongated house runs following the gentle contours and is immersed in a grid of planted white birch and totaras. This grid extends to the interior of the house in the form of blades of glass and by small inserted gardens. These elements provide a rhythm to the circulation that stretches from one end of the house to the other
The open plan is organized along this spine materialized by a corridor of 40m long, dented on the east façade by extrusions that indicate the entrances and allow natural ventilation. This length also links the two main volumes of the house with a portion built as a Trombe wall.
The use of two structural materials concrete and timber permits the expression of the two directions- that of the natural contours and the geometric implantation of the trees.
