Houses
This section highlights a selection of houses designed and delivered by Guy Evans Architects across New Zealand, along with a work-in-progress yet to reach the construction phase.
Kapiti House
Perched atop a sand dune, this Kapiti Coast home offers sweeping views of Kapiti Island and the Tasman Sea. Designed for year-round comfort, it provides protection from summer heat while maximizing solar gains through internal thermal mass in cooler months. The entire roof collects rainwater, which is stored and filtered for internal use. Spaces are carefully arranged to frame views while creating a dynamic interplay of solid and void across the dune. A restrained material palette—slate flooring, white plastered walls, and timber ceilings with sliding doors—enhances the home’s natural elegance. In the main living space, the timber ceiling is designed for optimal acoustics, with horizontal batten ribs extending beyond the sliding doors. These ribs provide shade from the sun and create a perch for native birdlife, further integrating the home with its coastal environment.
Kapiti Guest House
The design follows the natural contours of the sand dune, connecting to the main house across a landscaped courtyard. Louvred bedroom walls open to the living space and the surrounding landscape, creating a seamless indoor-outdoor flow. The bathroom takes inspiration from the aesthetic of New York’s subway stations, while a garage and workshop are discreetly tucked beneath the structure.
Fendalton House
This Fendalton home replaces a significant residence irreparably damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes. The new design embraces the site's opportunities, opening onto a reinstated tennis court beside the Avon River. Double-height spaces are carefully designed to regulate sunlight, with enhanced thermal and acoustic insulation ensuring warm and cozy living areas. A winter garden atrium links the two main wings of the house, showcasing an elegantly crafted grand staircase bathed in light. The exposed steel structure, combined with tubular louvres, casts dynamic, shifting shadows across the crisp white interior. In the front garden, a tea house pavilion—its form inspired by folded origami—complements both the atrium’s geometric structure and the sculpted window eyebrows nearby.
Waimari Beach House
- a work in progress
This three-story home rises above the Christchurch coastline, overlooking the sand dunes and the vast expanse of the South Pacific Ocean. Inspired by the Greek island of Santorini, the design evokes the essence of a small village. A central core of compressed passageways and staircases connects open living spaces, which flow seamlessly onto exterior terraces oriented to capture breathtaking views of the ocean, the Southern Alps, and the Port Hills Caldera. The material palette is elegantly restrained, with white plastered walls contrasting against blonded timber, stone, and carpeted flooring — creating a neutral yet refined backdrop for vibrant family life.
guyevansarchitects.com
