How this small home was designed and built in response to its tricky site

Article by Home Magazine

A sharp small house by Patchwork Architecture floats above a vertiginous Wellington site. We talk to Sally Ogle and Ben Mitchell-Anyon about how they approached this steep site

Q&A with Sally Ogle and Ben Mitchell-Anyon of Patchwork Architecture

This is the third project you’ve done with Adam and Dorset Construction. How important is that relationship?

Sally Ogle— It’s pretty awesome. It makes it a lot easier when you know that person really well and understand how they work, and they understand how you work. We understand Adam’s strengths.

The first decision made for this site was not to dig in too much. Why?

Ben Mitchell-Anyon— We’ve floated it as much as possible. Retaining is really expensive, and once you’re on a steep site, you often need to get into rock anchors and that sort of thing. The civil engineering side of things gets horrendous and when you walk into a house, you don’t see $100,000 worth of anchors holding it to the hill. So this really only has the concrete core, which is half dug into the ground, and the box itself is on poles. SO— In some ways it’s similar to a commercial construction where the core is doing all the work.

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The exterior is silver anodised aluminium sheets, the same product as the windows and doors. Why have you used it?

BMA— It’s coastal so we had to think about corrosion, and it’s about reading the exterior of the building as a cohesive whole. SO— Also, the house is obviously quite complex because of the site, so we tried to simplify the rest of the design, at least visually. Otherwise, it becomes overly complicated. BMA— And Adam is really into things being sharp and accurate and correct with lots of clean lines – no fiddly bits.

When building on a hill, the hypothetical envelope becomes quite difficult to comply with. How did you do it?

BMA— We learned that if you don’t ask, you don’t get. If we had been more compliant and just got the tick, we wouldn’t have been able to do this at all.

See more of the Wellington home below

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The concrete core and pole structure is visible from the street. The garage sits at the bottom of the site with a yellow door to the stairs and street.

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Clair Burrell walks into the living area. The ‘Elba’ outdoor lounge chair is from BoConcept.

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The kitchen and living area floor and ceiling are lined in oak. The custom-made steel and oak table is by David Aravena of Dazam Wood Design. The ‘Adelaide’ barstools are from BoConcept. The vessel on the table is by Ross Mitchell-Anyon.

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The richly textured cabinetry is Tasmanian blackwood.

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The ‘Amsterdam’ sofa and ‘Veneto’ chair are from BoConcept. An ‘Ildhane’ candlestick holder by Aderssen & Voll for Nedre Foss from Everyday Needs sits on the Tasmanian blackwood cabinet.

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The ‘Pyroclassic Mini’ fireplace on a recycled marble hearth.

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Mitchell-Anyon takes the stairs, which are part concrete and powdercoated steel, with Tasmanian blackwood-lined walls.

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Full-height glazing provides bushy views over the town belt and Kilbirnie in the distance.

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The cast in-situ concrete steps lead up the side of the house past the back bedroom. The anodised aluminium panel cladding is paired with anodised aluminium battens.

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The bridge to the roof terrace is yellow powdercoated steel.

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The white powdercoated steel and fibreglass Bus Stop was made in Whanganui by Garmac Engineering.

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The shelter on the roof terrace has been nicknamed the ‘Bus Stop’. Inside, Sally Ogle (left) sits opposite Louise Galpin and David Aravena. Ben Mitchell-Anyon (left) and Adam Pierson stand on the deck. The ‘Arnold Circus’ stools are by Martino Gamper.

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