Superhouse

Is it a tent? Is it a giant clam? No, it’s a house in the Hauraki Gulf whose architect owners used an astonishingly simple design to build themselves an astonishingly interesting home.

Words: Sue Moody  Photographs: Matthew Williams

GEORGIE AND GREG NOBLE’S house on Great Barrier Island defies description. That’s probably just as well, as they both dislike the notion of labels. “The essence of simplicity” is the closest that Greg, a United Kingdom conservation-trained practising architect can come to tying a tag on to his brainchild building. “You always strive for something simple, even when you’re doing ridiculous houses.” Exercising restraint in the working spaces while having fun with the rest of the building is the couple’s credo. It led them to create a drawing-board paradigm that translated into eye-catching execution.

You’re unlikely to miss it, nestled into the sheltered southern crook of Medlands surf beach on the eastern coastline of the Barrier.  Even from the sky its shimmering silvery carapace signals something special. Holidaying passers-by call out comments: “Love your house” and “Where did you get that idea?” 

Greg accepts the compliments graciously. If he’s low-key it’s because for him the logic is crystal clear: an incredibly simple idea married with sound engineering practices to create a home that works perfectly for himself, his wife and business partner Georgie and their family. Nothing more, nothing less. “Everything is engineered in this building: steel, concrete and plastics were the materials needed to meet the difficult site conditions, limited local resources and sometimes extreme weather,” explains Greg.

“The house is 180sqm, the maximum you can get from the smallest volume by using the sphere. People tend not to build in curves because they are difficult to handle. How do you get doors to open along a curved line that’s five metres wide?” Ask the expert. He achieved it. The aperture creates a seamless transition from the tent-like interior to the wide sweep of semi-circular decking spaces and the grass beyond. An elliptical perspex front wall rises to meet the PVC membrane roof which in turn is anchored by a seductive shell-like curve of shining Zincalume. “The concept is the product of all these ingredients.”

It is also the product of two careful, creative minds. Georgie, an ex-advertising designer, works closely with Greg in their Auckland architectural practice. “I don’t know about architecture, but I know how people live. I get involved in that side of things.”

Their professional collaboration has lasted a decade, seeing them through some major projects and now into a retailing venture. “We need to understand exactly who we are designing and building for,” says Georgie. “How our clients will actually live in their new house rather than how they might think they will takes a lot of time and understanding. It’s only through this process that we can hope to get a real match between client, architecture, interiors and gardens – we do it all.

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