Hnz1209 Great Barrier

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THE MAGICPLACE

TUCKED AWAY ON A PURIRI-LINED FIELD ONGREAT BARRIER ISLAND, FRANCES McCLUREAND KIM BANNISTERS SIMPLE BACH, DESIGNBY PAUL CLARKE, MAKES FOR YEAR-ROUNDGETAWAYS FILLED WITH BIRDSONG AND CALMTEXT JEREMY HANSEN PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON DE

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owned by the renowned photographer Henry

Winkelmann in the late 1800s, there is an ancient

grove of puriri trees. Kereru a nd tui swoop from

branch to branch, and kaka easily the islands

noisiest inhabitants emit their otherworldly shrieks

overhead. A hill of gradually regenerating native

forest, including kauri and nikau, rises to the north.

Thick grass and g narled blackwoods flourish in

an old creek bed.

Amid all this, Kim a nd Frances new bach,

designed by Paul Clarke of Crosson Clarke

Carnachan Architects, appears to have settled gently

in place without ever disturbing the peace.

Kim and Frances invited Clarke out to the

property and treated him to a picnic lunch under the

puriri tre es as a way of asking him to come up with a

design for their bach. They wanted something simple,

a house that was a deliberate contrast to their city

home albeit with a well-equipped kitchen in which

they could indulge their enthusiasm for good food

and with enough space to ensure it would still feel

comfortable when accommodating groups of visitors.

Of course, when people dream, they tend to

dream big, at least to start with. Kim and Frances,

who have five grown-up children between them,

initially gathered the family together to brainstorm

a wish-list for the bach. They came up with a 64 -point

document of exciting possibilities that included two

bathrooms, an outdoor fireplace and a bath. Soon

Long before Kim Bannister and Fra nces

McClure moved into their bach a short

walk inland f rom Medlands Beach on

Great Barrier Island, they had spent

many holidays in a bar n on the 10-acre

piece of land, dreaming of what they

might build there. In summertime, when there were

too many friends and family staying to fit everyone

into the barn, the children would pitch their tents

further down the property, away from the road in

a location they called the magic place. Here, on land

afterwards, the quantity surveyor came back with

a slightly spooky estimate of how much all these

suggestions would cost.

The wish-list was consequently scaled back

there is now an outdoor bath under the puriri trees,

just one bathroom, and a single indoor fireplace but,

as is usually the case in these matters, less has

turned out to be more, with the bach str iking what

appears to be a perfect balance between comfort

and simplicity.

Many holiday homes these days feel like city

pads that have been uncomfortably transplanted in

bucolic locations, a culture clash that suggests their

designers have given little thought to the importance

of creating a sense of place. In sta rk contrast, the

bach Clarke has designed on Great Barrier Island

feels very much at home. If anything, the brief that

the couple gave Clarke was less about how the bach

would look than how they wanted to feel on site.

They wanted the dwelling to enhance the

experience of being on the island, to embrace its

sense of peace, quiet and blissful isolation. They

wanted to be able to see the trees, for the house to be

full of sun, and for it to become a holiday destination

for future generations of the family. They also

preferred it to be built in timber, but otherwise left

Clarke free to come up with the design himself.

The end result has changed little from Clarkes

first sketch, a simple, narrow monopitch building

with the roof starting low in the south and rising

towards the north. Visitors walk between twin water

tanks at the entrance, down a covered open-air

December/January 2010 HOME New Zealand

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December/January 2010 HOME New Zealand

corridor flanked by three bed rooms on one side and

simple storage and laundry areas on the other. At

the end of this pasage, a door opens into a large, airy

open-plan kitchen and living area, which in tu rn

opens onto a stage-like deck with steps that offer

a grandstand-like view over the grass towards the

hill. It is a satisfying end to the journey through the

home, from the narrow, dark corridor to the generous,

sunny deck, the roofs optimistic tilt inviting the eye

to look upwards and out.

I liked the idea of the house setting a stage,

Clarke says, becoming a space where people could

congregate and also connect with whatever activity

was happening on the grass.

The simplicity of this linear form is one of the

key factors in making the bach feel li ke a no-fuss

destination. We never needed it to be posh, Frances

says. We plant and we mow and we grow veges,

we clump in here in our muddy gumboots. We cook.

We wake up here and are transformed.

The other imperative for Kim and Frances was

for the house to be environmentally sensitive: for it to

use sustainably harvested timber and eco-friendly

materials, and be highly energy-efficient.

Part of this was necessitated by the island

location: Great Barrier has no mains power, water

supplies or sewage treatment. This means the house

relies on solar panels and a backup diesel generator

for its electricity supply (the only time the generator

is used is for a bout an hour on cloudy winter days).

Energy-hungry appliances, such as a

dishwasher, clothes dryer, wastemaster, rangehood

and television, were eliminated in order to minimi se

the homes electricity requirements. (The oven is

gas-powered.) Low-energy LED bulbs are used for

lighting; winter heat comes from a Jetmaster

fireplace and is retained by wool insulation.

Rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in

tanks, while sewage is treated in an on-site septic

tank. Low-emissivity glass absorbs and retains

OVEThe living area

ns to the deck and

ws of the property.

GHTThe outdoor

wer. FAR RIGHT The

drooms face east,

wards the morning

, and are simply

nished with sisal

ring.

winter heat. The couple also visited the timber yard

personally to check the wood they were using was

certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC).

The house, with the help of sun a nd rain, hums along

with no assistance from the outside world, Kim says.

All this environmental rigour doesnt mean the

couple has had to cut back on every luxur y. Most

nights they enjoy, according to Kim, the unparalleled

delight of lying in a bath full of steaming solar-heated

soft rainwater, pumped by electrons charged with

sunlight, on a deck under the purir i to a background

of kaka, tui and wood pigeons. Its free bliss.

The land on which the bach is situated is

a former flood plain, which necessitated the elevation

of the building above a theoretical high-water mark.

Clarke says this tur ned out to be advantageous,

as it helped create the grandstand effect he desired,

and also imparts a breezy tropical air to the dwelling,

a lightness that most city homes would find

impossible to replicate.

It is this contrast to their lives in Auckland that

Kim and Frances appreciate most on their visits,

which have been far more frequent than they antici-

pated when they embarked on the project. Nowadays

they regularly visit twice a month. Before they started

building, they never considered the possibility of this

being a permanent residence, but now its a very clear

goal. Winter or summer, the pleasure of arr iving at

their getaway remains a constant its a place they

cant wait to get to and dont want to leave.

WE NEVER NEEDED

IT TO BE POSH. WE

PLANT AND WE

MOW AND WE GROW

VEGES... WE WAKE

UP HERE AND ARE

TRANSFORMED


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The layoutEntry to the home isfrom the south , up anopen-air corridor(below) past thebedrooms to the livingspace. Clarke (withproject architect BrentHore) located storage

and a laundry in a shed-like structure alongsidethe corridor.

The bathroomThe homes onlybathroom (below) has afull- length window thatmakes showering feelalmost like it is takingplace outdoors. Mostnights, though, Francesand Kim bathe in their

outdoor bath under thepuriri trees outside.

The propertyThe 10-acre block wasonce owned by thephotographer HenryWinkelmann, whosework was well-known inthe early 20th centur y.Before the bach wasbuilt, Kim and Frances

holidayed in a barn onthe property.

The formThe bach is located in anarea that the familyreferred to as the magicplace before the bachwas built. Clarkesdesign, with its largedeck and grandstand-like stairs, is aimed atcreating maximumenjoyment of theproperty and itsextensive bird life.

Paul ClarkeCROSSON CLARKE CARNACHANARCHITECTSArchitect Paul Clarkes design for Kim

Bannister and Frances McClures Great

Barrier Island bach is a linear arrangement

that culminates in an outdoor living space

with a grandstand of stairs leading to the

lawn. Clarkes ambition was to keep a strong

sense of connection with the outdoors,

which he achieved through generous use

of glass doors, and a covered open-air

corridor connecting the living space and the

bedrooms. Like every home on the island, the

bach is off the grid, so it relies on solar power.

NOTEBOOK

NORTH

BEDROOM

BEDROOM

BEDROOMBATH

BATH

LIVING

KITCHEN

DINING

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