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Warm, dry, healthy… and beautiful. With walls painted in Resene Black White and a design built around being sustainable and energy efficient, this home has been rated world class, with a 10 Homestar rating. Even though it’s a compact home at 117m2, the raised ceilings and white walls give it a spacious feel.
The bedrooms are painted in Resene Black White, with wood accents echoing the eco-friendly environment.
The living area and study are delineated by a pop of red on the door and frame, painted in a custom Resene colour specified by Bob. The walls are painted in Resene Black White.
The exterior design is a nod to the church in Addington’s historic Church Square, where the home is located. The entrance facade is made of Axon Panels from James Hardie, painted in Resene Triple Mondo. The deck is finished in Resene Kwila Timber Stain.
The cedar has been left unfinished so that it weathers to grey. To protect the cedar look and colour, finish in Resene Waterborne Woodsman exterior stain in Resene Natural or your choice of Resene wood stains. The Axon Panels from James Hardie on the facade are painted in Resene Triple Mondo.
The site plan of the Christchurch home designed by Bob Burnett. The home has a 10 Homestar rating and was painted in Resene Black White throughout.
Bob’s award winning ultra efficient 'superhome'
With a contemporary design and walls freshly painted in Resene Black White, this Christchurch home is already full of appeal. But its seamless looks hide a wonderful secret – it’s one of two homes in New Zealand awarded the first 10 Homestar built rating. Homestar is a 1-10 rating tool that measures the warmth, health and efficiency of New Zealand houses.
Architectural designer Bob Burnett last year received an ADNZ Resene architectural design award for the home. Located in Christchurch’s historic Church Square, in Addington, it's one of two distinctly different homes replacing an earthquake-damaged cottage, and forms part of a vision for demonstrating more sustainable ideals for enhanced building standards to influence the rebuild of the quake-affected city.
The homes were also the start of The Superhome Movement, a non-profit organisation that catalyses change in the New Zealand building industry to raise standards for healthier, more energy efficient homes. The organisation also runs Superhome tours, which presents houses around New Zealand that have a 6 Homestar rating or more. According to the website, a 10 Homestar rating – which is the rating this home was awarded – makes it a “world leading house”.
Bob tells us more.
Tell us about the home.
This north-facing, single-storey home has a classic Cantabrian aesthetic and is designed to allow great sun access for both itself and the two-storey 10 Homestar dwelling to the south of the site.
Optimum solar gain and quality of light is achieved with no windows on the south side but large openings orientated to the north and east. French doors open onto a courtyard with an edible garden to the west.
The lower ceiling bulkhead in the kitchen is contrasted by the raised ceiling height to the living area, to achieve a feeling of spaciousness and once again enhance the light and sun access in this surprisingly compact 117m2 footprint.
To the north-west there is a multi-functional room with full height asymmetrical doors, offering a great connection to the open-plan living/dining/kitchen area. The home has been designed to be functional and accessible, to the Lifemark standard, ensuring adaptability and ease-of-use. The design also responds to the picturesque and historic Addington church square environment.
What was the client’s brief and how do your design and colour choices respond to that?
The home sits on a small medium-density site, and is designed to be compact. We also wanted to reference the entrance of the lychgate to the church in the centre of the square, and so we kept the colours and materials natural and neutral, in keeping with the church square environment. This gives a nod to the heritage of the site, without imitating it. Both the church gate and entrance facade of the home feature a stone wainscot and treatment comprising natural timber and roof shingles.
What was your overall design philosophy?
Combining design aesthetics of a beautiful and delightful home, with technical performance to create an efficient environmentally sound home.
What Resene colours and products were used?
We used Resene Black White for the main wall colour, while natural materials set the tone for the rest of the colour palette. There is an accent of red, which I had custom-made at Resene to match a Seratone laminate product used elsewhere.
Outside, the entrance is painted in Resene Triple Mondo. The deck is finished in Resene Kwila Timber Stain.
Did you know… Resene has many products to bring out the beauty of natural materials including Resene Colorwood timber stains and clear concrete finishes. Ask the staff at your local Resene ColorShop.
What part of the design are you happiest with?
The innovations and new details to create a 10 Homestar home.
What was the biggest design challenge for this project?
Dealing with a small site and providing a design that is affordable to build as well as being high performance, achieving the 10 Homestar rating.
For more about energy efficient and well-functioning homes, see www.nzgbc.org.nz/homestar, www.superhome.co.nz and www.lifemark.co.nz.
Published: 09 Aug 2018
Do you have a home full of wonderful Resene paint and colour? Send us some snaps by emailing [email protected].
Warm, dry, healthy… and beautiful. With walls painted in Resene Black White and a design built around being sustainable and energy efficient, this home has been rated world class, with a 10 Homestar rating. Even though it’s a compact home at 117m2, the raised ceilings and white walls give it a spacious feel.
The bedrooms are painted in Resene Black White, with wood accents echoing the eco-friendly environment.
The living area and study are delineated by a pop of red on the door and frame, painted in a custom Resene colour specified by Bob. The walls are painted in Resene Black White.
The exterior design is a nod to the church in Addington’s historic Church Square, where the home is located. The entrance facade is made of Axon Panels from James Hardie, painted in Resene Triple Mondo. The deck is finished in Resene Kwila Timber Stain.
The cedar has been left unfinished so that it weathers to grey. To protect the cedar look and colour, finish in Resene Waterborne Woodsman exterior stain in Resene Natural or your choice of Resene wood stains. The Axon Panels from James Hardie on the facade are painted in Resene Triple Mondo.
The site plan of the Christchurch home designed by Bob Burnett. The home has a 10 Homestar rating and was painted in Resene Black White throughout.
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