ARCHITECTURE

The Auckland Architecture Association celebrates:
THORNE BAY ARCHITECTURE
Andrew Patterson
Barbara Draper
Fairhead Sang Carnachan
Cook Sargisson & Pirie
Mike Austin
Pete Bossley
Swan Railley Paterson
Steve McCracken
Felicity Wallace
Craig Moller

The Auckland Architecture Association celebrates:
THORNE BAY ARCHITECTURE
The Auckland Architecture Association would like to thank the sponsors for their support as well as all the generous homeowners for donating
their beautiful homes.
The idyllic coastal walk along Thorne Bay, spanning Takapuna and Milford, is home to some of Auckland’s best architecture, as well as
a range of enduring architectural homes. Get inside fabulous homes by Andrew Patterson, Mike Austin, Barbara Draper and Craig
Moller and keep an eye out for other houses of interest by Pete Bossley, Felicity Wallace, Swan Railley Paterson, Cook Sargisson &
Pirie, Steve McCracken and more which can be seen from the walkway. Please note, arrangements have not been made for access to
all houses, for those not ‘open’ to the public, please respect the goodwill of the owners. All ‘open’ houses are to be accessed from the
coastal walkway.
The houses will open Sunday 17th April from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. Please note the coastal walk can be quite rocky in places so
appropriate footwear is suggested.
Proceeds from this tour will go to support the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal.
The AAA was established in 1965 to provide a venue to discuss and promote architectural awareness within the wider community.
Become a member of the Auckland Architectural Association, visit www.aaa.org.nz Membership is free and it’s a great way to stay informed about architectural
events, download podcasts, view architectural properties for sale and more.

Fairhead Sang Carnachan
1. Hilson House 22 O’Neills Avenue (Not open to the public)
Designed by Simon Carnachan, this house comprises of three storeys and is like
living in a luxury cruise liner. All living spaces and bedrooms are splayed along its
elongated plan and open onto glass balconies over looking the water. To create
the foundations and in ground swimming pool, dynamite was used to blast holes
in the black basalt covering the site.
Image: George Gregory
Text: AAA
Contact: ccca.co.nz
McCracken Architecture
2. Minnehaha House & Apartment
26 Minnehaha Avenue (Not open to the public)
Located at the seaward end of the Pupuke lava
flow, this rocky site possesses stunning 180 degree
views of the Hauraki Gulf and islands. Originally,
the site contained a 30 year old, 3- storey, brick
masonry building comprising 3 terrace houses
constructed on a radial plan. The new project
brief required a single, large, 2-storey house with a
penthouse apartment above. Much of the existing
structure was retained in the redesign, which also
involved extending and straightening the seaward
frontage. Internal wall alignment generally relates
to the original radial plan, which is centred on the
circular forecourt. Just off the circular forecourt
is a double height entrance hall at middle level.
Living areas and the main bedroom are positioned
at ground level, while secondary bedrooms are
situated on the floor above. A double height
frame placed on a terrace in front of the house
defines an outdoor room. The house has a refined
material palette of exterior cleft travertine blocks,
travertine floor slabs and unadorned white plaster
walls and ceilings.
Image: George Gregory
Text: Steve McCracken
Contact: +61 405 818 490
Pattersons
3. Dowell House 24 Minnehaha Avenue
This home is articulated by the
stepped volcanic excarpment on which
it sits. A raisable louvered wall gives
privacy from a public walkway in front.
Image: Pattersons
Text: Pattersons
Contact: pattersons.com
Awards: NZIA Resene Northern Regional Award
2001
Pete Bossley Architects
4. Thorne Bay House 22A Minnehaha Avenue
(Not open to the public)
A compact house designed for a
beautiful but small and near-impossible
site! Five well established pohutukawa
inhabit the site, with intertwined limbs
spread across the seaward half of the
available building zone.
The ground floor level comprises
orthogonal spaces, which follow the
slope in a series of steps down towards
the sea, providing sea views from each
level. Upstairs, the rooms become more
angular and free flowing, to reflect
the contortions of the pohutukawa
limbs.
Image: Simon Devitt
Text: bossleyarchitects.co.nz
Contact: bossleyarchitects.co.nz
Awards: Registered Master Builders Auckland
Region Gold Medal 2009, NZ Wood Timber
Design Awards 2009 Residential Architectural
Excellence – Highly Commended

2.
11
9.
4.
3.
1.
10
8.
7. 6.
5.
12

W.H. Jaime
5. Merkesworth Castle 253 Hurstmere Road
(Not open to the public)
When 70 year old Captain John
Alexander Algie returned from a trip
to his ancestral Scotland in 1924, he
brought back a new wife, Penelope,
and a passion for all things Scottish.
Having decided to spend the rest of
his years on the Shore, he consulted
with architect W.H. Jaime and together
with stonemason Frank Savidan, began
building the castle of his ancestral
dreams.
Text: North Shore City Council
Mike Austin
6. Chapple House 1 Kitchener Road
The brief stated the house was to be straightforward, that the occupants were
not interested in ostentatious or obvious displays of money and it had to fit in
with the existing natural landscape. This included gnarled pohutukawa trees, one
of which encroached on potential house space, and the lava flow rock which
made up the shoreline. Using rocks collected by the family, stonemason Sven
Hansen built the chimney and added to the existing sea and retaining walls.
7. Firth Cottage 9 Kitchener Road (Not open to the public)
Clifton Firth, his wife and three children moved into this bach, one of the
original cottages in Thorne Bay in the 1920s. Milford Beach was covered with
beach houses at the time, mostly rustic, basic houses, sufficient for comfortable
weekends and family holidays. The Firths grew so fond of their holiday home
that they made it their permanent base. The bach is nestled in a garden among
pohutukawa with beach facing windows and a covered porch providing good
views and shelter from harbour storms.
Swan Railley Paterson
8. Mirror House 15 Kitchener Road (Not open to the public)
Designed in 1984 by Swan Railley Paterson the house is a remarkable example of latemodernist
architecture and parodies buildings of the 1980s while making clever references
to its immediate environment. With its hull-like curves, stainless steel railings, flagpole and
chimneys that resemble funnels, it suggests a giant mirrored cruise liner in the league of
the Titanic. The most notable feature of the house is the mirror cladding which is striking
both to the eye and the sun. The house has since been extensively restored inside and out
removing the mirrored glazing opting for a double glazed aluminium facade instead.
Image: George Gregory
Text: North Shore City Council
Image: North Shore City Council
Text: North Shore City Council
Image: North Shore City Council
Text: North Shore City Council

Cook Sargisson & Pirie
11. Dine House 16A Audrey Road
(Not open to the public)
Draper Architects
12. Kirk-Smith House 20 Tiri Road
Moller Architects
9. House at Black Rock 21 Kitchener Road
The small guest house, located at the bottom of the cliff, supplements the accommodation
of the main house above. Constrained by the location of the pohutakawa tree and the
required setback from the front boundary, the resulting form of the guest house is a
response to these conditions as well as a desire to differentiate itself from the main house
in both form and material. The skewed geometry maximises the interior space and opens
out towards the sea views. Kind permission Dunbar Sloane
Image: Moller Architects
Text: Craig Moller
Contact: mollerarchitects.com
Felicity Wallace Architects
10. Black Rock House 31 Kitchener Road (Not open to the public)
This is a major alteration/rebuild of ‘Group Architect’ Ivan Juriss’ 1950s Lea House. Ivan was a tutor
of Felicity’s at architecture school, and made occasional site visits during construction to discuss
details - especially of the flying hull roof construction. The scheme alters the house to the extent that
the original house is destroyed but becomes a part of its own destruction. Typical 1950s motifs such
as the monopitch floating roof, freestanding walls and clerestory glazing express an entirely changed
sense of space. The house draws its forms from the long racing boats of Auckland’s sailing history - hull
construction becomes roof construction. The deck forms were derived from the need to achieve
privacy for the inhabitants, while still creating a feeling of openness to the seascape.
Image: Patrick Reynolds
Text: Felicity Wallace
Contact: Felicity Wallace Architects - 06 327 7071
The brief was to design a 500m² family
home to that captured the 180º sea views,
provide for a sheltered outdoor living
area around a swimming pool, and for the
kitchen to connect directly to indoor and
outdoor dining.
The plan derives from the key concept of
all living rooms and bedrooms engaging
dramatic views of Rangitoto and beyond
and simultaneously connecting through two
storeys to an intimate sheltered and sunny
courtyard.
The form and roof line articulate the spaces
within and provide shelter from exposure
to the sometime stormy Hauraki Gulf.
Image: Cook Sargisson & Pirie
Text: Peter Sargisson
Contact: cooksargisson.co.nz
The specific character of the site is long and
sloping with a rise of around 3.5 m from
the road front to the crest of the site at
the rear.
The house comprises of two strong,
simple, stained cedar clad forms, each with
a gently sloping roof plane. They enclose
large rectilinear volumes with match the
landform, and provide varied light, views
and experiences through framed openings.
Family spaces for gathering and relaxation
spaces for the children are sited to engage
the land. The house and guest studio enfold
a northerly courtyard, pool and terrace
at the rear of the site, protected from the
wind and private from the road.
Image: George Gregory
Text: Barbara Draper
Contact: draperarchitects.co.nz

AAA