Beachside Residence

Front Entry
North Shore
New Zealand
2008

The pohutakawa is a native New Zealand tree which grows on the coast. It is well-loved by New Zealanders and is often informally referred to as the New Zealand Christmas tree, since it bursts with fluffy, bright red blooms at that time in the summer. New Zealand's waterfront virtually becomes a mass of red in December.

This is my final design for the front entry of a house on the north shore of Auckland, New Zealand. It has been done in Photoshop.

I live nearby, walk past this house often and find it very beautiful. It sits on a cliff top overlooking Cheltenham Beach. I love the renovations that have been done. The existing glass in the front entry and upstairs, however, challenged me, being a machine made "Flemish" glass. I wanted to find a solution for the entry that would be worthy of the house, appropriate to the occupants and welcoming.

The design was an exercise only. I discussed this with the owners to make my intentions clear, since I wanted to take pictures and linger in front of their house from time to time.

I have researched what is involved to achieve the results and have done samples. It has evolved slowly, over many months. This is a new direction for me in architectural glass: overlapping patterns, no lead, less colour, natural forms that lend themselves to architecture.

All the glass used, except for the red, was envisaged as 4mm float glass, etched/sandblasted on both sides with silhouettes from my photos of the native trees in their garden. The yellow shown represents lighting only. The patterns are overlapping which gives a privacy screen to the street, but also allows peeps through clear openings in the leaves. The upstairs could be the same (click on image), or the negative, with the leaves clear and the negative spaces etched.

The square of the red glowing in the centre would be hand-blown and transparent flashed glass, which has a jewel-like quality and the colour of the pohutakawa blossoms. It comes often shaded softly from one side to the other, with bubbles and striations formed in its making. It too has been etched with leaf patterns on the sides. It provides the focus for the entry and a warm welcome.

In this picture I have shown the house at night, since during the day, the red colour would be seen from inside only and only appear dark from outside. The leaf patterns would be visible day and night, inside and out.