Spacious, gracious and elegant - a real southern belle

Design creativity was central to the success of this spectacular award-winning hillside house, tucked away in a private lane on a site well chosen for its breathtaking views of the Southern Alps.

Design Considerations

Our clients wanted a magnificent home reminiscent of the mansion style houses of the southern states of America - spacious, gracious and very ornate.

As busy people with a growing family, they also wanted to enjoy a real sense of retreat.  They were looking to create a space in which to raise their children, entertain friends and accommodate guests in elegance, style and comfort.

With expansive rooms and wide sweeping balconies, this particularly large home did present a few compliance challenges.

Town planning restrictions, in particular height restrictions, somewhat limited the use of a steeper roof pitch and the traditional large southern-style gables and artifices.  However, by employing some intricacy in the details and ’relief’ on the main building elements, the beauty of this architectural style was well achieved.

From the elaborate cornices, covings and mouldings around the entrance way, to the purpose designed interior light fittings the end result was a look that the clients were enormously happy with.

“I do not want to be cold in this place... or too hot” is an often heard request.

The construction of the house using materials with high embodied thermal mass was again the answer. The design solution created a comfortable and expected temperate internal climate.

In addition to the satisfaction of seeing happy clients, we were delighted with (and for) the builder we recommended for the job.

As an up and coming new building company, Design Construction Limited really wanted to excel with the project. Having done a marvellous job with the quality of workmanship, Graham Anderson subsequently entered this house for the 2001 Master Builders’ House of the Year award and won both at regional and national level gaining these much coveted titles.

Design features

• A low maintenance design, the house is constructed mostly from mass concrete. It has polystyrene blocks with concrete infill and concrete floors at each level, providing a particularly robust and well insulated house.
  
• The graduated exterior wall colouring suits the house’s architectural style and interior treatments.
• Cedar and copper are used extensively as exterior trims.
• The roofing is a rarely used metal shingle.
• Heating is underfloor with an auxiliary gas fire and heat pump.
  
• An electrical house management system is employed.