Trends New Zealand Trends Volume 31 No 12 New Zealand | Page 19
One of the challenges when designing
a substantial family home is how to create
all the spaces the owner wants without
giving them a large box with no light in
the middle.
Ong&Ong architects Maria Arango
and Diego Molina’s solution for this home
was to divide it into two wings. W hile this
in itself is not an unusual approach, the
way they’ve implemented it has produced
a house full of contrasts and surprises.
“We started with a barn-like structure but didn’t want a dark interior,” says
Maria Arango. “So we opened up the
centre with a water courtyard that contains an ornamental reflecting pool.”
The two wings that wrap around the
water courtyard divide up the functional
spaces of the house and feature different
cladding materials.
The front wing contains the living and
dining areas on the ground floor with the
master bedroom and family room above.
While the rear wing contains more of the
services such as the kitchen, family dining,
maid’s room and a study.
Facing page and top: The two wings of this home
by Ong&Ong are most obvious from the side
elevation. The front wing is on the right and is
clad in granite. To create contrast, the rear wing
on the left has a fair-faced concrete cladding. The
gap between the two wings contains a water
courtyard with an ornamental reflecting pond.
Above: As well as granite cladding, the front wing
is partly clad with dark aluminium fins which also
wrap over the roof. The swimming pool is in front
of this section of the house.
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