wall inspired by Mayan temple design. The many penetrations created in it allowed plants and light to “pop through the gaps,” and give privacy “without being anti-social,” says Aaron. You would think that a large scale project like this would have attracted a lot of issues during planning. However, with Aaron and the rest of the team working collaboratively alongside the council including a planning consultant preparing everything in tandem – it was a “simple process,” explains Aaron. In terms of advice on ensuring success in getting through planning for anyone taking on a similar build, he says “find professionals that you can trust, and let them do their jobs.”
CLOSE TO THE ACTION
The build began in February 2019 and took around 360 working days to complete in total. During the construction, with Aaron’s keenness to be involved in all of the decisions whether big or small, he took the step of setting up his own office space onsite where he could continue with his software developer work while also fully engaging in the project. He says the reason was two-fold: “I love the
process of construction, and every single day, dozens and dozens of little and big decisions were getting made. I wanted to be part of those decisions and ensure a lack of decision making was never going to hold up the schedule.” One decision that Aaron didn’t want to make however, was choosing to lose the 10 km of cedar wood cladding included in Michael’s
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www.sbhonline.co.uk
“In the same way I would never take the paintbrush off an artist, I didn’t feel the need to tell Michael how to design a home”
original design. The complexity of installing the cedar while making it completely watertight was going to be too much of a stretch, and its weight would also require more steel and concrete to support it, adding up to nearly $1m more than an alternative. “The material would have also required
repainting every three to five years due to our often harsh New Zealand weather and sun conditions, as well as attracting a lot of spiders and dirt in the slats,” explains Aaron. While the couple loved the initial original cedar design, the large cost differential plus these added complications left them little choice but to find an alternative. Michael put forward copper as a substitute. As well as reducing costs thanks to its lighter weight resulting in less supporting steel, the material would be able to “resist the strong southerly
jan/feb 2022
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