By Mt Hobson Group

03/13/2012 In North Piha, a residential beach house has been designed with groves of surrounding trees in mind. Throughout the planning process, a central consideration was two beautiful, mature pohutukawa trees. “There are a number of pohutukawa on and bordering the site,” explained Brent Heluna, Heluna Architects. “These trees define two obvious open spaces as potential building platforms.” Consequently, Heluna designed the beach house in two pavilions providing split living environments. The two pavilions will be connected by a covered walkway. The house design provides for the retention of vegetation on site and for them to become an integral part of the overall development. Once built, this home is an example of what it means to build with the environment in mind. Its final design plans ensure that the home connects to and enhances its landscape. “We proposed very simple building forms clad in vertical, dark stained timber as recessive elements to sit between the trees in the landscape,” explained Hulena. The result? “A unique New Zealand space that defines modern environmental architecture,” commented Nick Mattison, Mt Hobson Group, Senior Planner to the North Piha project. Mt Hobson Group specializes in town planning and resource management. This is crucial time for tree talk. With the recent Environment Court ruling, general trees in the Waitakere and North Shore sections will be protected in specific areas and zones, but more freedom has been granted to private land owners in regards to what can be done with trees on their property. While there are still general tree protection measures within specific areas, along with scheduling of notable trees, local authorities in urban areas will no longer be allowed to have blanket tree protection rules on private land. Hamish Firth, Managing Director, Mt Hobson Group, believes the ruling provides clarity, flexibility and certainty. “It is important that both the development can occur in the highly modified urban context while providing for specific tree protection while maintaining a higher level of tree protection in more sensitive coastal and bush covered areas.” Moving into the 21st century, green homes have taken hold, smart home concepts are continuing to evolve, and the new North Piha home project illustrates a new trend, one that exemplifies modern environmental architecture, building to coexist with our environment.

Mt Hobson Group assists Heluna Architects on may of their projects. "Mt Hobson Group help us achieve our client’s dreams by finding intelligent ways through all the resource consent issues and district plan rules." – Brent Hulena, Owner of Heluna Architects

Mt Hobson Group

Dealing with Local Government for Resource Consents in Auckland and around New Zealand can be confusing, time consuming and costly.A skilled Town Planning Consultant can save you both time and money in the resource consent process. As Planning Consultants we take the hassle out of obtaining Resource…

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