Cox’s Bay House New Zealand, Residential Building, Home, Architect, Photographs
Cox’s Bay House : Waitemata Harbour Property
Contemporary New Zealand Property at Waitemata Harbour - design by Stevens Lawson Architects
Waitemata Harbour House

photos © Mark Smith
Design : Stevens Lawson Architects
Photographed by Mark Smith
This four-bedroom family home, overlooking Cox’s Bay and the western reaches of the Waitemata Harbour, sits amongst an eclectic collection of properties on a quiet suburban street. The house has been designed to replace a small and ramshackle house whose previous owner had covered almost the entire site in concrete.
The new design has sought to establish an interesting connection between architecture and landscape through a series of courtyards, lush gardens and an integrated approach to the formal qualities of the architecture and the landscape design.

photos © Mark Smith
The sculptural main form twists and ramps-up from the discrete street frontage over a cluster of organic ‘pod’ forms containing bedrooms, a lounge and kitchen. The main living spaces and circulation areas are seemingly held between these pod forms giving a relaxed air and fluidity to the spaces. Dark timbers and terracotta combine with ramping floors, sunken seating areas and hidden doors to offer a rich, playful interior. The home also features extensive built-in furniture, shelving units and a sculptural cantilevered staircase.
Externally, the chamfered black form interacts with the softer, textured pod shapes to create a challenging and enigmatic adaptation of the ‘classic’ New Zealand timber house. While from the waterfront the home references to the vernacular seaside bachs of New Zealand.
Stretching out along the narrow site and opening onto a series of intimate courtyards the house stops short of the sea to form a private waterside oasis, featuring a clifftop spa and swimming pool, sunken outdoor lounge, decks and extensive lawns and garden.

photos © Mark Smith
Waitemata Harbour House images / information from Stevens Lawson Architects
Stevens Lawson Architects
|
Stevens Lawson Architects - New Zealand houses featured
Cox’s Bay House
Hobson Bay House
Herne Bay House
Hot Water Beach House
Omaha House
Onehunga House
Onehunga Studio
Tamahere House
New Zealand Houses
New Zealand Architecture - Selection
Mai Mai, Auckland
Patterson Associates Limited

picture : Patrick Reynolds
Mai Mai building
Mountain Retreat, Southern Lakes, southern New Zealand
Fearon Hay Architects

photograph : Patrick Reynolds
Mountain Retreat
New Zealand Architects
Comments / photos for the New Zealand house page welcome:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Cox’s Bay House - page : adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
|
|
|