Encampment-like Home: Awaawaroa Bay House by Cheshire Architects.

Cheshire Architects have designed an occasional home for a couple nestled amidst the breath-taking backdrop of Awaawaroa Bay in New Zealand. Three small volumes, resembling more of an encampment than a home, are clustered around a sun drenched courtyard that acts in turn as an extension of the shared living space, blurring the boundaries between inside and outside.

Designed for a client who “fell in love with this south-facing site and the idea of occupying it without formality and off-grid” the unconventional composition features a tall church-like pavilion clad with a steel roof that protects its delicate timber interior and two sheds wrapped in canvas. Each separate zone houses a different function while the courtyard surrounding them acts as an extension of the domestic interior.

Related: Eyrie Houses in Kaiwaka, New Zealand by Cheshire Architects.

Lined with fragrant old timber the chapel-like living room denotes itself as the clear gathering space with its central gabled roof structure. A perfect space for two or twenty (not to mention a couple of dogs), its interior is warm and inviting.

The materiality is intuitive and earthy with a sofa carved from the room itself. An outdoor bench blurs the kitchen and courtyard into one. The architects hope to celebrate the difference between inside and outside – and the reinforcing, occupying, and eroding of the threshold between those states through these functional details.

Related: Stories on Design // Outdoor Rooms.

Creaking gently like yachts in the wind, the cloaked sheds act as sleeping pods, lined inside with timber and window frames big enough to shower those inside with an abundance of natural light in the morning and throughout the day. A bunk room that feels intimate but sleeps ten has space for everyone to get their own nook.

The interior is simultaneously generously spaced and appropriately intimate no matter how many people are inside. Conceived carefully, built simply and dressed informally, this home makes a convincing case for slow living.

[Images courtesy of Cheshire Architects. Photography by Jackie Meiring.]