This simply planned, two-bedroom house was designed according to an economical brief in both a budgetary and environmental sense. 

Located on Pahi Peninsula, near the Kaipara Harbour, it shows that money need not be a barrier to good design. It also shows how obsession can be the key to success – obsession with unrelenting 900mm dimensions, from truss modules in the roof to correspondingly sized panels, all designed to be as efficient and economical as possible and avoid wastage.

The defining element of the living space is a fixed-pane window that enhances connection to land and sea, and provides protection from the elements. It’s importance is signified through the use of custom joinery (the rest of the home’s joinery is from a standard suite). A simple palette of materials and colours – white plasterboard walls, plywood floors, a modular steel kitchen in oak and green steel – were all designed to be strikingly simple. And environmentally friendly systems, such as a worm farm septic scheme and rainwater collection, also cleverly reduce the home’s overall footprint.