Style: May 06, 2022
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<strong>Style</strong> | Home 45<br />
When did you first move to New Zealand, and what<br />
drew you to Lyttelton specifically?<br />
I arrived in New Zealand in 2011 to support my team<br />
at the Rugby World Cup. It was three years later that I<br />
discovered Lyttelton. I worked in Hamilton for a year, before<br />
deciding to visit and establish myself in the South Island.<br />
My partner and I moved to Lyttelton in 2016, we<br />
actually lived in a 12m-long Bedford house bus parked on<br />
site to save on rent until the house was built. Before that<br />
we were flatting in Linwood in Christchurch.<br />
Lyttelton (or ‘little town’ as I like to pronounce it) is<br />
a little village on the hills, with a very unique sense of<br />
belonging, something that reminds me of the French<br />
Pyrenees, where I’m from.<br />
What was your brief for this house and what are some<br />
of the ways you met it?<br />
For me, it was important to establish a base in New<br />
Zealand, a house for my “old days’’ as I used to say: a small<br />
modern home (two bedroom), as sustainable as it can be<br />
and built like I would back in Europe.<br />
My partner wanted the space to be beautiful and<br />
subjective, simple, cosy and safe, like a sanctuary. Not all<br />
these are easily translated into design. We had regular<br />
client-architect type catch-ups and meetings, it was a real<br />
team effort.<br />
Was this the first home you’ve designed for your own<br />
use, and how did designing for yourself affect things?<br />
It was indeed the first home I have ever designed for<br />
myself. As a designer, it was a real dilemma, there are<br />
probably 400 different homes I would like to see being<br />
built, so narrowing it down to one was an interesting<br />
exercise. The site and planning rules constraints helped in<br />
the decision process.<br />
I also had to share that dream house with my partner’s<br />
aspirations. That challenge was equally big.<br />
Living so close to such a big port comes with noise,<br />
fumes etc, how does the house prevent these things<br />
coming in?<br />
By its own nature, the house is very airtight (blowdoor<br />
tested) and acoustically soundproof. A mechanical<br />
decentralised heat recovery ventilation system brings us<br />
fresh air without all the pollutants. You should see the<br />
filters after six months!
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