Piha Bach

PIHA - AUCKLAND

This modest family bach looking over Piha Beach is all you need to experience a kiwi summer. The family has owned the bush covered property since the mid-1980s. Accommodation on the site extended to an army hut and a large deck, with a long drop further up the hill. They wanted to share the experience of the location with others and decided to build a holiday bach. 

The brief was to design a low-maintenance bach that maximised the sun and views and minimised the impact on the surrounding bush.   

The two bedroom bach is approached by climbing up through a bush trail then up onto the building platform. The climb is long and steep with a resting point along the way for those who need it. As you come through the front door and turn into the living room, the view of Piha Beach and views beyond open out before you - the pain of the climb is all but forgotten.

Every room looks out onto the bush with large windows positioned to frame the various views. The single living space opens onto the deck, oriented towards the north to take full advantage of the sun and the view of the beach. Bedrooms are tucked back towards the hill, closer to the bush to provide privacy and escape. The deck and living room become one space when the doors open to their full width.

One single living space was provided because food preparation, eating and entertaining friends and family was central to bach life. Even though it easily accommodates an extended family with cooking in the kitchen, a game at the dining table, someone asleep on the sofa and a conversation on the deck, it can also be an intimate place of solitude for someone who’s staying alone.

Piha has no town water supply or sewerage system so the site is close to being off-grid with only power being a reticulated service. Rain water is collected from the roof, stored in a tank under the deck and pumped back to the house as drinking water. An on-site sewerage system collects and treats waste and then spreads it in the bush.

The house is now an accomplished and well executed design that requires little oversight or maintenance. It allows people to enjoy relaxing with uninterrupted socialising as was originally hoped. It remains a focus of an extended family and is regularly used as a haven.