Home New Zealand – August 01, 2019

Firstfloor

Design

notebook

Q&A with Kate and Daniel

Sullivan of Architects’ Creative

You’ve said the adaptive reuse of

the original house was a sustainable

approach, whereas others might have

bowled it. Can you measure the costs

of retaining and reusing as opposed

to building new? Daniel Sullivan— We

saw too much value in the original home

to consider demolition – amazing cast

in-situ features and character that simply

can’t be replicated today. Fortunately, the

structure of the building was incredibly

sound. At a time when we had lost so

many examples of unique masonry

buildings in the earthquakes, we saw this

as an opportunity to retain and enhance

a building that clearly had so much love

and energy put into it by the original

owner. It took 12 years starting in 1940

for the house to be completed, plus the

seven years we put into it. For us, value far

outweighed cost. Kate Sullivan— We took

a slow-architecture approach. Living here

throughout has enabled us to stage the

work in a way we could afford.

You’ve said you would rather forgo

a big site with a lawn to mow every

Sunday for compact living. How is the

house working for you and your family?

DS— We will stay here. We want to

see the boys grow up here. It’s a small

footprint on a small site but we’ve been

clever with the planning and have spaces

to retreat to on our own. The beach is only

50 metres away and there’s the peninsula

and city within close proximity – it’s all

on the doorstop.

What sort of consent process did

you have to go through? DS— The

site is quite narrow and resource

consent was required for minor building

envelope intrusion. As architects, we

believe in designing dwellings that are

good neighbours, respecting access to

daylight and privacy outlook to adjacent

properties. The pop-up is located away

from the southern boundary, ensuring

any potential shading was minimised.

The northern-eastern wall has no glazing,

ensuring there are no overlooking issues.

How have you managed privacy from

the neighbours? KS— Creating privacy

and outlook is very important and can

be challenging on higher density sites.

We’ve used landscaping for screening and

level changes in the garden to form small

private spots. In the extension, windows

and three large skylights create a light-

filled space with as much privacy as

possible. The rooftop garden will gradually

be filled with planting and sculpture,

providing more privacy as it evolves.

Ground Floor

1. Entry


2. Bedroom


3. Living


4. Library


5. Hallway


6. Bathroom


7. WC


8. Laundry
   9. Deck
   10. Garden
   11. Storage
   12. Studio
   13. Dining
   14. Kitchen
   15. Roof deck
   16. En suite

1

3 2

4

52

10

9

7

6

8

13

12

11

14

15 2

16

The laundry sits inside

the original footprint.

108 HOME NEW ZEALAND