On a secluded beach at the northernmost tip of New Zealand, an elegantly low-slung structure seems to surge from the scrubby shoreline. The work of architect Tom Kundig, owner and principal of the Seattle firm Olson Kundig, the earth-hued home is aptly named Te Whare Tupu Kirikiri, Māori for “house growing from the sand”.
The building is composed of four interconnected rectangular pavilions arrayed around a courtyard and pool. The gently rounded roof – connected to the foundations with fine steel columns – appears to hover, allowing sight-lines through to the spectacular South Pacific vista. Kundig refers to this roof as “the surfboard” and indeed, from a distance, the hydrodynamic form does resemble a classic longboard casually flung down among the dunes.
