Perched on a north facing site overlooking the Otago harbour, the design of this 4 bedroom passivhaus was heavily influenced by planning constraints particular to this site. The most significant of these was a sloping maximum height plane (designed to protect the neighbour’s harbour views) which sweeps down the site at about 4m above the original ground plane. In response to this, the mass the house was pressed into the slope so that the upper level roof would sit just below the height plane.

Vehicle access is from the south of the site. The driveway cuts down to an excavated vehicle court and adjacent double garage. From here, the sheltered front door opens to an entry foyer and then directly to the home’s main living level. The kitchen is located in the center of the living level, between the formal in informal lounge areas. and allowing a direct connection to the west facing entertaining deck.

Downstairs 4 bedrooms share views of the Otago Harbour and open out to a level lawn area. Service areas are organised along the basement retaining wall.

The house’s dark timber cladding and white window frames consciously draw on the work of the modernist architect Vernon Brown.