Karekare Annexe

2013


A 1970’s family bach in Waitakere National Park west of Auckland needed more room to accommodate the extended family on their regular weekend gatherings. The original bach permits little privacy so it was decided to build a new internally separated studio bedroom and bathroom with a separate external entrance as a retreat.

Under the planning rules of the National Park a new detached building would be considered an additional dwelling so the building was obliquely attached to the existing bach. The form of the annexe is designed to not compete with the existing building.

The annexe is covered with NZ native or plantation timbers - scorched bandsawn macrocarpa board & batten cladding, matai strip flooring sustainably sourced from windfall logs, recycled kauri ceiling boards and radiata plywood wall lining painted white.

The translucent polycarbonate exterior wall to the bathroom fills the space with light and and a sense of closeness to the outside environment

A small dark wooden house with sliding glass doors, a metal roof, and a skylight, surrounded by green foliage and trees, with interior lighting visible through the glass.
A bedroom with wooden floors and a wooden ceiling featuring a skylight. There is a window with curtains, a framed picture on a small table, a chair, and part of a bed with a colorful floral quilt.
A small house with a partially open door, metal corrugated roof, and black wooden exterior walls. There is a window to the right of the door, surrounded by greenery and trees.
A small bathroom with a wooden interior, including a sink and a unique door that opens outward to lush green foliage outside.
Architectural model of a building with a white facade, large windows, and surrounding landscape features.