This home in the seaside suburb of Seatoun, Wellington, has a sunny and sheltered back yard with a favourable northwest orientation. The brief to Wright & Gray Architects was to make a new outdoor ‘room’ that would extend the seasons and times that the space could be used.
A glass roof provides shelter for the deck while letting the sun through to inside the living spaces. A bank of bifolding, glazed doors on the north side allows the outdoor space to be opened up, or closed to provide shelter from the prevailing northerly breeze. Similar doors allow the living and dining rooms to be opened to the deck.
The new addition is unashamedly modern, but the roofline sympathetically matches the existing house. The supporting structure is of glulam timber, with carefully detailed joints and no exposed steelwork. This will be durable in the maritime environment.
Wellington’s climate has plenty of sunshine and is quite temperate, without extremes of hot or cold. Over several similar projects, we are exploring ways to make better indoor/outdoor spaces that are finely tuned to our local climate, the siting and orientation of the homes, and the lifestyles of our clients.
