The House That Jack Built - Part 1: Planning

Since Jack first announced his plans to build a house, there has been quite a lot of interest! Naturally, people are curious to see what an architectural builder is choosing to do in their own home - so we thought we’d give you a behind-the-scenes look into the build process as it happens. ‘The House that Jack built’ will be a blog series covering all the aspects of planning and building a house. In this first part, we’ll look at the planning journey - selecting a site, coming up with a concept, and then finding ways to make that concept a reality!

Site Selection

At a recent talk in Christchurch, famed ‘Grand Designs’ presenter Kevin McCloud was asked “If money was no object, what would your dream house look like?”. His response? “How can I discuss my dream home if I don’t know where it’s being built?!” His point was that a build should always be a product of the surrounding landscape - both practically and visually. And we couldn’t agree more; it makes no sense to design a house before selecting a site - and with considerations such as access, views, and complex foundations, this is especially true of a hill build! Luckily Jack has a bit of a knack for selecting sites, and he found a hill site that was sheltered with incredible, uninterrupted views over New Brighton spit and the City. Kev would be impressed.

Part of the stunning panoramic view from site

Finding Inspiration

After purchasing the site, inspiration for the project was found on Waiheke Island, where Jack and his wife Tash were drawn to the relaxed yet high spec-feel of the houses there. A concept began developing for an edgy, ‘feel-good’, four bedroom house with relaxed flow, communal living spaces, and an over-sized garage (of course). It was important that nothing felt too ‘precious’ - they wanted a home that looked great, but could be lived in and appreciated.

Waiheke Island Inspiration

More inspiration

Initial Design

With a good understanding of the site and a sense of what he wanted, Jack approached an architect. The design developed from there - navigating several challenges; the house needed to be reasonably child-friendly, have lots of space for entertaining, and ideally a level entry, allowing the occupants to park up and walk straight into the house. It took a couple of go’s to get this right - which is to be expected for this kind of project. The key was introducing two cantilevers to suspend parts of the building off the ground. Practically speaking this achieved enough square meterage for a workable floor plan, but it also has the upside of looking awesome!

A render showing the exterior

Engineering

The house looked pretty on paper, but the question of how to make it work was up to the engineer who had a bit of a task ahead of him! With some creative thinking and a lot of calculations, a specific engineered design was developed. The biggest consideration was the upper level which cantilevers 2.5m over the lower level. Some beefed up steel runners in the mid level floor solved this issue and the concept can now be made a reality!

Next steps

As it stands, Jack has a site and some workable plans - the architectural designer will now take care of the consent process before construction can begin. In the meantime, discussion around the interior of the project is well underway and there’s a long list of decisions to be made! Our next post will cover joinery design, materials, flooring, colour palette and more! Stay tuned, and get in touch with any questions!