Warm tones feature across the facade and interior of The Lookout, a stilted house that local studio Parsonson Architects has added to a hillside site in New Zealand.
Located on Ruby Bay in the Tasman District, the home comprises a timber structure elevated partially by a pair of columns in response to its sloping site.
Parsonson Architects coated the home in red-painted cladding and weathered steel, creating a distinct exterior that is both weatherproof and complementary to the warm tones of the wooden interior.
“The core concept behind the design is to create a simple form, with a hard and weathered outer skin protecting warm interior spaces filled with natural materials and colour,” studio founder Gerald Parsonson told Dezeen.
Walls of exposed concrete blocks also feature across the home, including outside where they extend along the longest facades before intersecting with the hillside.
“Structural elements of exposed concrete blocks anchor the house into the site, contrasting with the interior delicacy of timber framed construction and finer detailing,” said Parsonson.
Raised on a concrete plinth, The Lookout is accessed by an undulating driveway that curves up the hillside to a timber staircase. This external stair runs along one side of the home, flanked by plant beds and ending at a gravelled slope and wooden patio.
To add interest to the home’s simple rectangular form, Parsonson Architects incorporated geometric cutouts and a sloped roof. There are also expansive windows to frame the nearby bay and louvred steel screens and overhangs that offer shading and shelter.
The wooden patio leads into The Lookout’s open-plan living and dining area, which is designed to encourage indoor-outdoor living.
Surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glazing, this space features modern furnishings and wooden finishes including Okoume plywood lining and exposed Douglas fir beams.
From the living and dining room is a central corridor, with doors on either side connecting to a kitchen and additional lounge area. The corridor also leads to two bedrooms and bathrooms as well as a walk-in wardrobe and laundry room.
Parsonson Architects grouped the living spaces at one end of the plan, while the stilted portion of the home that shelters the driveway contains the bedrooms.
“The interiors are clearly laid out, with bedrooms to the south and living spaces to the north,” said Parsonson. “The kitchen and bedrooms are located to enjoy the morning sun and spectacular views eastwards over Tasman Bay.”
At the end of the corridor closest to the bedrooms, the walls are painted red to mimic the building’s exterior and are illuminated by LED light strips.
The red colour continues into one of the home’s bedrooms, where a bright accent wall helps bounce warm-toned light through the space. The other bedroom features a more muted palette, with off-white walls and a timber ceiling.
While most of the home is designed around a warm colour scheme, some accents include cool green walls and metallic countertops.
“The material and colour palettes reflect a connection with the surrounding natural environment and the want to create rich, colourful and textural interiors,” Parsonson explained.
Other stilted buildings recently featured on Dezeen include a cedar-clad Quebec chalet and a shingle-coated sauna on a rocky Norwegian shore.
The photography is by Simon Wilson.
