- Location: Bombay Hills, Auckland
Perched on a prominent Bombay Hills ridgeline, this family home balances panoramic views, privacy, and connection to the landscape. A central hub with living areas anchors four wings, including master, children’s, and guest zones, each framed by large windows. A separate studio supports a fitness business.
The house is organised around a central hub containing the kitchen, dining, lounge, snug, and covered outdoor entertaining space. From this core, four wings extend into the landscape, providing separation and privacy while large picture windows give each room its own unique, framed view. Across the circular driveway, a separate studio allows the client to operate a fully equipped fitness business independently from the family home.
“The design captures panoramic views while providing a luxurious, comfortable home that is open yet private, and intimately connected to the landscape.”
The steep topography and rural zoning presented significant design challenges, requiring the home to sit low and unobtrusively on the ridgeline. The building follows the natural contours of the land, with dark-stained cedar and carefully planned terraced earthworks helping it blend into its elevated setting. Existing soil was redistributed to form terraces for the house and landscape, minimising the visual impact of the earthworks.
“Every design decision had to balance visibility, privacy, and connection to the surrounding panorama — both of the house from the landscape and from the house outwards.”
Exposure to wind, rain, and sun further informed the design, with covered outdoor areas, operable louvres, integrated drainage, and durable material selections providing shelter and year-round usability. The result is a home that feels expansive yet intimate, responding carefully to its site, climate, and rural setting while appearing to sit naturally within the landscape.
The resulting home sits lightly on the ridge — a technically rigorous and carefully considered response to site, climate, and regulation that appears effortless, as if it has always belonged to the landscape.
