— 2021 Home of the Year / Alterations / Winner
— 2022 NZIA Local Award / Nelson and Marlborough / Winner
The Family Manifesto:
A life less ordinary.
Effort is the most important attribute.
The world is divided into dicks and not dicks.
Dancing over drinking. Laughing over dancing.
Pride comes from actions not things.
Always and wholeheartedly, with the underdog.
Joy.
The world is endlessly fascinating.
No brands only function and beauty.
Cry when happy. Get even when angry.
People. Always people.
Sneakers over shoes.
Fairness.
There is nothing as good as good radio other than great music.
Nothing flashy.
Always respectful of people. Never of privilege.
And so the story begins – this highly original manifesto was the underpinning of our approach to the highly original design. The intention was to repurpose a church and church hall into a contemporary family home for Dad, Mum and three young boys living ‘a life less ordinary’.
The buildings were to maintain their integrity and original spatial quality that existed for the Church when it was built around 1900, and the church hall in the 1950’s. The decision being that the insertions of domestic life be freestanding; furniture and the bedrooms would be a series of movable pods. This offered respect to the old and a position on the new. Ply boxes animate the interior of the hall while astro-turf provides a modern carpet and gave the ultimate flexibility – ability to manipulate the space, with the astro-turf flooring for games on the floor.
The parts of the building were to be clearly demarcated. The existing church was restored and painted white, the annex was converted into ablutions and serviced with a translucent external screen and the hall a black painted metal clad form.
Photography by Simon Devitt
