At the centre of this highly sculptural home, the 2024 City Home of the Year, Textured Bach by Nic Owen Architects, is an artful collection of moments — of views, of textures, and of creativity.
From the street its form is mysterious, presenting itself as a monolithic object in a blackened cloak on the hill.
The entry is compressed, a small opening cut from an otherwise closed façade. Movement towards the door results in increased isolation from the surroundings — until welcomed inside where the view is instantly revealed.
High above Sumner, this site offers serene and captivating vistas — something architect Nic Owen took the chance to maximise, creating what is essentially a wall of thermally improved windows and doors to the north-east, custom-made by Vantage manufacturer Monarch Aluminium.
“It is a house that invites the landscape in, spaces animated by the changing light … a weaving together of the landscape and the building,” Nic says of the design.
Full-height windows and sliding doors in the living areas allow uninterrupted views to the ocean, while an architectural studio and ceramic workshop and the bedrooms at the other end of the house also feature extensive glazing; here though, windows and doors are surrounded by metre-deep boxes — creating privacy and modulating the sun’s rays — while adding to the sculptural nuances of the design.
In harsh exposed settings such as this, maintaining ambient internal temperatures year-round is always a key design driver — and something the Metro Series ThermalHEART range is specifically designed to do. The thermally efficient frames deliver year-round comfort by keeping cool temperatures out in winter, and reducing overheating in summer. Here, that performance is delivered within an overwhelmingly creative abode — where each space is designed to enjoy not only what is within but what extends beyond.
