Photography by: Swell Productions
When a young family wanted to open up their late 1960s Khandallah home on a hill, to give themselves a new entranceway and more space, they turned to architect Anne Kelly of a.k.a architecture.
Fans of a modernist aesthetic, they added an extension of charred larch to the front of the original light-coloured house. “The intent was to do something different. The owners were into a more modern design,” says Anne, noting she, too, is a fan.
The original house is now all bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a self-contained apartment, leaving the sharp-angled extension dedicated to family living with an inviting open-plan kitchen, dining and living space and a deck, accessed via a sliding door on top of the new garage. The deck was an added bonus and, while not part of the original plan, was put in “thanks to the nature of the forms”. The entrance is on the ground floor of the extension, with access to the upstairs from a dog-leg staircase.
The door and the windows now maximise the light. “The windows give that light and the changing light during the day, so it can go from something quite warm in the morning and evening to something much brighter during the middle of the day.”
But from the street, it’s all eyes on the stunning square Metro Series black custom window protruding into this new part of the house that’s the real attention-getter.
Anne says they refer to it as the modern bay window, which frames the green. It was all about “framing the greenery and having a connection to the outside. The window gets used a lot by the kids hanging out there, watching nana or aunty arrive. It’s like their connection to the outside”.
See more of this Khandallah home at vantage.co.nz/dark-matter
