Following the 2011 Canterbury earthquake, a large brick 2 storey multi-generational family house fell to the ground.

The brief was for a house to be built of permanent materials so that it would be resilient to future earthquakes and flooding and would be a new family legacy project with a minimum design life of 200 years. The house is embedded in the context of its seismic geology and family history of the site. It is an abstract manifestation of the traditional family home that once stood on this land.
There were certain nostalgic elements of the original house that the client was keen to be reinterpreted such as: the brick material, orangery, pool, tennis court and its overall relationship to its well-loved and well-established garden. The house was to be sustainable to operate and permanent so that its embodied carbon be mitigated over time.

It builds on the traditions of its ancestors in a socially and environmentally sustainable way for future generations to come. It utilizes low energy heating system light sources, PV panels, low water use, high levels of insulation, biophilia principles and natural ventilation.