Ridge House Korora by Daniel Marshall Architects

Korora by Daniel Marshall Architects

Daniel Marshall Architects has designed the Korora house in Waihake Island, New Zealand. The site offers a ridge that stretching between the Hauraki Gulf and the pastoral landscape of Waiheke Island. The idea was to work within the contour of the ridge, as an attempt to minimize the impact on the landscape. A landscape wall, clad in local coloured stone, splays out from the primary plan form, providing a point of entry to the house, and allowing the excavation that drops the garage below the ground line.

External pool side Korora by Daniel Marshall Architects

Ascending the stair, one reaches the house via a southern courtyard. The plan form of the house is spaced between this courtyard and its accompanying northern courtyard, which are bridged by a gabled roof stretched across the long axis. The courtyards provide the opportunity to shelter from either of the two dominant winds.

Plan Form Interior Korora by Daniel Marshall Architects

The materiality of the house draws on two architectural conditions of Waiheke, the masonry forms were inspired by the gun emplacements of Stoney Batter. The use of cedar and plywood reflect precarious weekenders of the island’s past.