Pauanui holiday house by Kamermans & Co Architects
The indoor/outdoor living pavillion in this Pauanui holiday house.
The freight container second floor creates a bright pointer to the entry.
The kitchen is open to the dining and living areas.
Until the 1960s Pauanui, on the East Coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, was a quiet spot. It was only toward the end of the 1960s when the Hopper brothers started the Pauanui Ocean Beach Resort company and purchased the first large block of land, that the master-planning and development of the purpose-built holiday township began.
Pauanui has expanded considerably since then, drawing around 12,000 people over the summer holiday season. The off-season population is around 800. For Aucklanders it is only a two hour car trip, making it an ideal spot for a holiday house that can be used easily throughout the year for weekend retreats.
Architect Frans Kamermans, principal of Kamermans & Co Architects, was asked by his Auckland clients to design a holiday home that would suit the needs of their extended family. The narrow north facing site was triangular and presented some challenges.
The clients wanted there to be a separation between their space and the rest of the house, so they would be able to retire from the activity of their extended family when it suited them. There also needed to be generous outdoor living spaces and plenty of bedrooms.
Kamermans designed the house in three distinct areas. The ground floor forms a t-shape, with the open plan kitchen, living and dining room on the northern side and the sleeping/garage area running perpendicular to this room along the south boundary.
The living space opens up onto decks on both sides, and functions as an indoor and outdoor room with two sides fully opening to east and west, protected from southerly, easterly or westerly winds. The near windowless north wall in the living room acts as an anchor and provides shelter and privacy.
The clients’ bedroom is a shipping container form that makes up the whole first floor. From this height the clients enjoy sea views and look out towards Paku Hill in Tairua.
The container sits lightly at the intersection of the t-shape creating a marker for the entry of the house and providing a sheltered roof above both doors. The entrance opens immediately into the living space, and was designed to be a relaxed and inviting entry for family and friends.
