Anawhata House

Anawhata House

A compact 118m2 home designed and built by Architectural Designer Paul Davidson, Anawhata house is meant to be enough, and no more, whilst providing a sense of immersion into its environment.

A modest budget necessitated the need for a simple building envelope and economical spatial arrangement. A long and thin plan with longitudinal circulation provides view shafts from one end of the house to the other making it feel larger than it is, and exposed wall framing and mid-floor joists both borrow space that would normally be closed in.

The built language of exposed structural elements and fixings began as a response to the natural environment. Sited At an altitude of 300m above sea level in the heart of the Waitakere ranges rainforest, the architecture needed to accept and respond to frequent and heavy rainfall. Roof overhangs and exposed gutters are expressed and observed in heavy rainfall as they overflow. This idea is carried through into exposed cross bracing, fixings patterns and timber framing which give a sense of lightness and movement.