East and West meet in this Californian classic
The home takes advantage of well-established landscaping, the river stone walls grounding the home in its setting.
The ‘engawa’ — a wraparound veranda — enhances indoor and outdoor connection.
The dark timber exterior provides a sense of mystery, derived from the Japanese philosophy of ‘wabi-sabi’.
The veranda features a small rock garden, known as a ‘tsubo niwa,’ often found in traditional Japanese homes.
Light toned, double-height rooms help to reflect daylight deep inside.
Ground floor plan.
First floor plan.
Elevations.
Elevations.
In the Big Cottage, Bob Burnett Architecture merges a classic Californian Bungalow style with a Japanese design ethos in this Christchurch home that works to sustain and embrace nature.
The architects say the owners’ brief for The Big Cottage was clear early on — to create a timeless yet forward-thinking design, close to nature, with a spacious and light interior.
The design response is a modern reinterpretation of an iconic Christchurch 1909 California bungalow style that incorporates Japanese design philosophy. The resultant home takes advantage of well-established landscaping on the site and harnesses biophilic design principles and natural materials to create an organic feel.
Starting with the exterior, the dark stain of the weatherboard cladding is anchored by river stone walls to ground the home in its setting. The mature trees and plants complement the roofline while reflecting the design influences with existing Japanese maples and a Californian redwood tree.
Embracing the transience and imperfection of the raw materials used, this dark timber exterior provides a sense of mystery, derived from the Japanese philosophy of ‘wabi-sabi’. This concept is embraced across the entire project, from the custom-made front door to the matching mailbox, and use of the ‘engawa’ — the wraparound veranda enhancing indoor-outdoor connection. This emphasis on nature is manifested in another way in the home’s cutting-edge, energy-efficient standards.
The Japanese influence continues into the home’s interior, featuring rooms that flow from one to the other, eliminating passageways and maximising usable space. Hidden shoji sliding doors allow spaces to be opened up or closed off depending on their desired usage. These are enhanced with ‘ranmas,’ from Japan, a transom above doors serving as a traditional welcome to visitors. Expansive glazing invites the changing colours of the season inside from the garden, framed by light, double-height rooms.
With function very much a part of Japanese philosophy, The Big Cottage incorporates rainwater/greywater recycling, solar panels and batteries, along with a high-performance thermal envelope resulting in low running costs. This includes triple-glazed high-performance windows, super-insulated Ecopanel walls, minimal thermal bridging, an airtight building envelope, and a mechanical heat recovery ventilation system.
Designer, Bob Burnett, and Japanese Architect, Shizuka Yasui, described the clients as being, “the best part of the home”. Sharing a love for Japanese design allowed for a harmonic and consistent meeting of the minds in the home’s creation. The Big Cottage is a grand reflection of its owners, their bookshelves and artwork influencing the internal colour scheme of unobtrusive light tones throughout.
The Big Cottage meets Superhome standards and won an ADNZ Resene Architectural Design Award (Residential New Home over 300m2) in 2022.
Learn more about Bob Burnett Architecture here.
