Award-winning bach 20m from high-tide mark defies climate change
Does it even make sense to build a beach house just 20m from the high-tide mark? Thats the question architect Richard Naish and colleagues at RTA Studio asked when they set out to design an experimental house project on New Zealands vulnerable coastline in a climate-uncertain world. The team acknowledged that the rising sea-level and climate change are bringing severe rain events at increasing magnitude and frequency and then proceeded to design a bach that takes these factors into account. And now, the house on the Tawharanui Peninsula north of Auckland has won a Housing Award in the NZIA 2020 Auckland Architecture Awards, a peer-reviewed awards programme run by Te Kahui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects. RTA Studio describes the design solution: The overall composition is bold but simple, and reminiscent of a boat or ark floating above the land. It sits on piles that extend 12m into the ground to resist coastal erosion from storm inundation, sea-level rise or overland flow. Occupation is not reliant on a static ground condition. A dry riverbed has been formed to control the flow path, and native vegetation extends the natural landscape as a blanket under the house. Nature can alter the coastal environment below the house while occupation can continue for generations to come. But it is the way the team did this that impressed the NZIA awards jury. PLAYFUL ARCHITECTURE The house is an expression of fast and playful architecture that does not dwell on concerns about full resolution, the jury said. The design was whipped up quickly, seemingly but of course not actually with the naivety of a student project. The architect cleverly saw the potential of a challenging site facing south and sitting in a floodplain, and created an elevated form that incorporates a vertical rectangular north elevation that twists to become a horizontal rectangular south elevation. Apparently unsophisticated and even cartoonish windows add to an appropriate level of casualness and informality. The design is an antidote to the obsessively overworked beach-house. Key features include the tall, narrow, boat shed entry, a bright terracotta outdoor spiral staircase, and a magnificent wood-lined, open-plan living area.