Three Pavilions

RESIDENTIAL

• PROJECT

  Three Pavilions

• LOCATION

  Bay of Islands, Northland

• STATUS

  Completed

Three parallel pavilions inhabit a seaside valley in the Bay of Islands. The Pavilions transverse a diagonal wall incised into the base of a beautiful hillside and  provide outdoor spaces sheltered from the predominant winds coming from the sea or down the valley.

A guest house nestles into the native bush beside the stream. The corrugated steel roofs ‘float’ on dynamic V shaped timber props, which in turn are grounded by columns of stone quarried from nearby land. Internally the roofs provide soft enclosure, lined with plywood and lit with uplights from the stone columns. The slope of the monopitch roofs echoes the hillside behind and focuses the view from inside on the stunning bay to the north.

Above stone level the walls on the high sides of the pavilions are articulated with solid panels and glass in a chequerboard pattern, controlling the light and incorporating opening sashes for natural cross-ventilation.