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STYLE INSIDER

A Japanese aesthetic and sustainable design come together at this Christchurch home

Words AD Y SHANNON Photographs ANN AM LEO D

Japanese influences mix with sustainability in Christchurch.

When the section next door to their home in Upper Riccarton became available, Vickie and John Hearnshaw decided it would be a fine site to build a home combining their admiration for the arts and crafts style, an interest in Japanese architecture and a desire to incorporate the latest environmentally sound building technologies. They found the ideal architect and designer in Shizuka Yasui and her husband Bob Burnett, co-founder of the Superhome movement, who create environments that optimise performance and achieve better health, comfort and wellbeing for the occupants.

It turned out that Bob and the Hearnshaws were both captivated by an iconic Californian bungalow built in 1909 in Fendalton, known as the Los Angeles house, and elements of that architecture firmly influenced the home’s ultimate design.

Known as Oki Kotteji, or The Big Cottage, the house has extended eaves and layered rooflines that flip up at the end, sloping exterior walls and a wraparound veranda. Inside, oversized shoji-style sliders separate living areas, avoiding the need for hallways. The home conforms to European standards for air tightness, solar panels generate more electricity than needed to run the home, wool insulation lines the walls, and rainwater and grey water recycling systems ensure the garden is well hydrated.

The couple are delighted with their suburban oasis that exudes a cool, calm ambience and makes everyone who visits “feel quietened by the space”.

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2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stuffmagazines.pressreader.com/article/282836490434829

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