Mount Pleasant House

In a rural hillside setting in Mount Pleasant, a coastal Christchurch suburb, simple forms touch the ground lightly allowing the landscape to pass through and under.

The vast landscape, marked by the tones of sand and dry summer grass, informs the material palette for HMOA's design. The rugged exterior of pale grey profiled steel and natural macrocarpa reinforces references to a rural vernacular.

The three-bedroom house with pool is deliberately skewed to capture the view east towards Moncks Bay and the ruins of the iconic Rapanui Rock, Shag Rock, while creating protected outdoor space. The home is designed to accommodate extended family with two wings, one on either side of the central entranceway and deck.

To combat the coastal winds, the floor plan is split to provide some shelter to a central deck. Acting as both the arrival point to the house and an outdoor room, this space has screened sliding doors to allow maximum flexibility in this ever-changing coastal environment.

Like the two steel pavilions that comprise this hilltop house, the pool is freestanding, is also wrapped in steel and is docked alongside the lighter house forms with a connecting deck that anchors it to the landscape.

Photos: Russ Kleyn