How this minimalist home engages its coastal New Zealand setting is revealed through a carefully resolved response by Fearon Hay, where nature-inspired living becomes a central design force. Positioned above Matakana Inlet, the modern coastal residence quietly follows the contours of the landscape, offering a refined house tour that celebrates calmness, stillness and simplicity.

The layout of the architect-designed home is minimal in footprint yet generous in gesture. Defined by a single elongated form, the plan is split into two zones – bedrooms and bathrooms on one end and open-plan living on the other. Two distinctly landscaped outdoor living spaces bookend the house, reinforcing the connection to place while offering seasonal flexibility. From its deliberate siting to its subdued palette, the residence is a thoughtful exercise in sustainable architecture. This response to site is integral to the success of the project and highlights the way residential architecture can foster a deeper relationship between people and place. How this minimalist home translates its environment into architecture is central to the project’s enduring impact.

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Materially, the interior speaks to continuity. A palette of oak – used across floors, cabinetry, ceilings and walls – creates a cohesive environment and elevates the sensory experience. This consistency fosters a softness that complements the tougher exterior shell, giving the architect-designed home a sense of warmth and longevity. Through the selection of enduring and tactile materials, the project aligns with principles of minimalist home design, emphasising function, clarity and visual calm. Such coherence between interior and exterior enhances the emotional and physical comfort of the inhabitants, allowing the home to feel both grounded and uplifting. How this minimalist home achieves that balance between expression and restraint is a mark of its success.

Reflecting the best of New Zealand architecture, the project is more than an example of modern appeal – it’s a model for how architecture can recede into its surroundings while elevating the everyday. The use of open-plan living encourages fluid movement and visual connection across zones, and the generous outdoor living spaces anchor the home to its unique context. This intentional openness brings nature inside, blurring traditional boundaries between structure and landscape. How this minimalist home connects with nature becomes its most defining achievement.
Ultimately, this dwelling illustrates that successful residential architecture does not demand complexity, but rather careful, informed decisions made in response to site, climate and lifestyle.

The house presents a quiet kind of innovation – one that supports wellbeing, fosters connection and gently reshapes the expectations of what a modern home tour can deliver. Rooted in its environment and guided by the ethos of sustainable architecture, this project by Fearon Hay is a landmark in New Zealand’s architectural landscape, offering a powerful case for pared-back, nature-inspired living that endures over time. How this minimalist home elevates its modest form into a space of profound calm underscores the role of architecture in shaping the way we live.

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00:00 – Introduction to the Minimalist Home
01:13 – Building on the Site
02:14 – Initial Vision
02:36 – Walkthrough of the Home
03:41 – Interior Material Palette
04:25 – Landscaping Collaboration
04:56 – Stand Out Moments

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Photography by Sam Hartnett.
Architecture by Fearon Hay.
Interior design by Amelia Holmes.
Landscape design by Andy Hamilton Studio.
Build by BMS Construction.
Filmed by The Local Production.
Edited by HN Media.
Production by The Local Production.

Location: Matakana Inlet, New Zealand

The Local Project acknowledges Māori as tangata whenua and Treaty of Waitangi partners in Aotearoa New Zealand. We recognise the importance of Indigenous peoples in the identity of our respective countries and continuing connections to Country and community. We pay our respect to Elders, past and present, and extend that respect to all Indigenous people of these lands.

#Minimalist #Home #Nature

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House LV1 (house nanchi 1 y 2)

CASA LV1 (casa nanchi 1 y 2)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE CONSTRUCTION
The Casa LV1 (casa nanchi 1 and 2), is a multi-familiar conformed by two houses constructed in the same land, the main material used for its construction was white striated concrete.
DESCRIPTIVE MEMORY
The Casa LV1 (casa nanchi 1 and 2) is a complex of two houses designed for a family an elderly couple, their young daughter and their granddaughter. Each house has the necessary privacy for each development, with the interrelationship and coexistence of the family; they are located in an irregular diamond-shaped land of approximately 250m2, a gradient over 10% with a view to the southeast.
The Casa nanchi 1, on its main floor has: living room, dinning room, kitchen, bathroom, main bedroom with closet and its own bathroom, this floor is directly connected with the service area; the lower floor has a hall, two bedrooms with closet and its own bathroom; the upper floor has a roofed recreation room and a garden terrace. All the floors are connected by a stair, and has a parking lot. The total constructed surface is of 160 m2.
The Casa nanchi 2 has on its main floor: living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and service area; on the upper floor it has: main bedroom with closet and its own bathroom, an additional bedroom with closet, a little play room and a bathroom; on the lower floor, where the entrance is, has: two parking lots and an exterior stair which is connected to the other floors. The total constructed surface of the house is 145 m2 excluding parking lots.
Both houses share main entrance, service yard, green spaces and services.
The houses are named after the nanchi tree (byrosonimacrassifolia) that is located in that land; it was respected and the project was adapted around it, to make it a natural decoration for the dinning room of the Casa nanchi 1. This house was designed for an elderly couple and it has a terrace in the upper floor, which is a recreational and relaxing space with a view of the surroundings to enjoy with the company of family, friends and guests. It has a double-height space which allows the development of the tree.
The design of the Casa nanchi 2, which was designed for the daughter and granddaughter of the family, is inspired in the Brno chair, designed by the architect Ludwig Mies van ser Rohe, which not only allows a large volume, but also an efficient and free structural principle because with this solution is obtained an overhang of 4.85 m with a support of 2.85 m, generating a space without any support under the construction.
The concept of the houses is derogates no only from the connection (interior-familiar, exterior-landscape), but also from the visual freedom that people perceive before entering in the house and also in the interior of them. This is fulfilled by the volumetric integration that defined the spaces of each house, both prisms have specific substractions that allow a formal integration of the two elements; in the Casa nanchi 1 the terrace is subtracted and in the Casa nanchi 2 the parking area is subtracted, transforming both elements without losing its integrity.
The connection of both houses is so important that is not only achieved materially with the union of the two architectonic objects from the common entrance, connotating the link of the family, but also with the landscape, through the transparency in the facade of the two houses, which creates a visual freedom for the inhabitants. This gives a greater illumination of the spaces, producing a feeling of spaciousness and allows the air circulation due to the large windows that are handled by the users.
The material, white striated exposed concrete and stone dust of the region, recalls the honesty of the materials, this simplicity benefits the environment, because it doesn’t use coatings in walls, fooors or roofs, contributing the less possible to the pollution. The exposed finishes means less production, transportation and utilization of pollutant materials. As said before, the free circulation of air allows a constant cleaning of the interior air which allows a natural regulation of the temperature, achieving termic comfort for the users and reducing the use of electronic devices that cools artificially the place. Besides, the same large windows avoid the unnecessary use of artificial illumination during the day allowing the entrance of sunlight in the morning.