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UDAD 2018 House Design

Omaha House #4 by Kamermans Architects Ltd

The brief called for a four bedroom holiday home for a family of 9; the parents, and 7 children, varying from 1 to 19 years old. KA was selected by the clients because they liked the design of KA Omaha House # 3, located across the road from their site.

Urban Design & Architecture Design Awards 2018
Second Award | Category: House Design
Architects: Frans Kamermans
Studio Name: Kamermans Architects Ltd

Country: New Zealand
Website:
www.kamermans.co.nz

The house is located in the seaside resort of Omaha, just over an hours drive from Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city, with a laJtude of 36.8° (comparable to Malaga in Europe).

A design challenge was that the Northern (sunny) side of the building faced the public road. To deal with this potenJal privacy issue the building was broken up in different volumes that created a sunny courtyard shielded from the road but directly accessible from all the level 1 living areas.

The three different volumes are arranged in a sculptural composiJon; The ‘copper’ clad stairwell, which connects the painted fibre cement clad ‘lounge block’, and the two storey ‘weatherboard’ block.

Another design challenge was to create indoor and outdoor spaces where the different age groups, varying from adults, adolescents, teens to toddlers, could choose to mix or be separate.

Terraces allow for social, sun and shade choices. Fixed seaJng finished in the wall cladding materials ‘anchor’ the building to the ground and create areas where separate ‘groups’ could gather.

Limited area permiXed by Council for building coverage (footprint) resulted in all the ‘living’ spaces being located on level 1 and the bedrooms on level 2.

Most level 1 living spaces have Jled and insulated concrete floors that absorb the heat from the low winter sun, but remain cool in summer due to summer shading in the design. The courtyard has a removable ‘sail’ cover, providing protecJon to summer sun and rain. The sail can be removed in winter to allow more low winter sun into the family room.

Moveable external louvre shuXers provide sun control for the low a\ernoon sun to the kitchen/dining area, to prevent potenJal overheaJng. The stairwell, ending at the door/ window to the roof terrace, acts as natural venJlaJon sha\, providing year round fresh air and summer cooling.