courtyard house, HAMILTON

The Courtyard House pays tribute to a nearby house in Hamilton’s Church Hill neighborhood, an exemplar project built in 2009 and designed by the late architect Graeme Gunn. Gunn was a Hamilton resident and an RAIA Gold Medal winner. Both houses were constructed by the same builder, who is the client for this house.

 

Like Gunn’s design, this project breaks with a suburban mainstay of locating the home in the middle of the block, with poorly utilised open spaces surrounding it. Instead, this house wraps the perimeter of the site, pulling and dividing the open space into five distinct courtyards. The courtyards create views and intimate gardens on all sides of the house, while the building footprint occupies the space between the courtyards, creating interconnected internal and external spaces.

 

The street-facing courtyard garden creates a formal connection to the neighbourhood and provides distant views of the Church Hill spires from the office and front entry. A south facing courtyard creates a darker space for reflection and enjoying a cool summer breeze. The guest bedrooms open-up to a private west-facing courtyard, while a sunken courtyard creates an intimate space for an outdoor fire connected to the Den. The main courtyard or ‘backyard’, which is now in the centre of the block, provides a north-facing aspect for the main open plan kitchen / living space, alfresco BBQ area and master bedroom.

 

The highlight windows over the living area also face north, pulling natural light and sun deep into the floor plan. These elevated volumes over the kitchen, living, office and ensuite create a sense of drama within an otherwise tight suburban block. The combination of south facing low windows and high clerestory windows is also used to generate cross-ventilation, drawing cool air in from the south courtyard and expelling the warm air that collects in the clerestory volumes.

 

The design takes advantage of the 1-metre fall across the site by terracing the floor plan. To allow for ageing-in-place, the primary living spaces, including the entry, office, master bedroom, living areas, laundry and external access are all located on a single level. The guest spaces are on the lower level, helping to maintain a sense of separation and privacy from the main living area.

 

The strong formal language of the design is emphasized by the singular use of standing seam metal cladding externally. This, along with other material choices such as the polished concrete floors makes it a highly durable and low maintenance home.

 

In a small way, this house emulates the qualities we admire most in the work of Graeme Gunn – his ability to weave principles of sustainability, passive solar design and connection with the surrounding Country into the making of beautiful spaces for everyday life.