Kawau by Dorrington Atcheson Architects

Kawau is a holiday home for a family of four on Kawau Island, New Zealand. Dorrington Atcheson Architects has completed this house in 2014.

Visitors enter the house by walking between two forms: a lineal spine and the bedroom block. The ‘spine’ is a utilitarian area with a dive room for wetsuits and regulators, a temperature-controlled cool store, the laundry and extra storage.

The layout of the main home comprises two unimposing elements: one pavilion becomes the social hub that contains a modest kitchen, living and dining area; the other – the sleep zone – with two bedrooms, bathrooms, and a “rack and stack” bunk room.

Cedar shiplap and black ply cladding speak of the Kiwi vernacular while the layout is reminiscent of a campsite, albeit with a few extra home comforts.

— Dorrington Atcheson Architects