Inside a Stunning Coastal Home Hidden Among New Zealand's Sand Dunes

Explore an extraordinary New Zealand coastal home hidden among the sand dunes of Te Arai. Designed by Space Division, this sculptural beach house uses sweeping curved timber forms, sheltered courtyards and carefully framed ocean views to create an intimate connection with the surrounding landscape.

There is something wonderfully unfamiliar about the landscape at Te Arai. There’s an innate stillness to this place; the dunes rise and fall in gentle succession, their undulating forms punctuated by coastal grasses and the remnants of an old pine forest. Beyond, the Pacific stretches towards the Hen and Chicken Islands, while the manicured fairways of Te Arai Links occupy an intriguing middle ground between the cultivated and the wild.

It’s a landscape that feels entirely removed from the conventional residential environment, with the dunescape assuming an almost overwhelming presence; something that has been carefully considered in the design of this family retreat.
Undoubtedly contemporary in its expression, the design sought to establish a meaningful dialogue with its surroundings while remaining visually recessive, architect Marc Lithgow of Space Division explains.
Three wings form a horseshoe configuration, creating a protected central courtyard and allowing the house to engage with the landscape in several directions. It is a pragmatic arrangement in a coastal environment where exposure to the elements is an ever-present consideration, but equally one that gives rise to a series of carefully orchestrated spatial experiences.

"The horseshoe naturally forms an internal courtyard which not only creates shelter from the wind but also provides opportunity for visual connection between each of the three wings," Marc says.

Perhaps the most compelling architectural move is the introduction of curved external timber screens, whose sculptural forms establish a distinctive language throughout. In a place defined by the gentle undulations of the dunes, the curve acts as an organic counterpoint to the otherwise rectilinear arrangement of the three wings.

There is an intriguing tension between these elements: the solidity of timber and the openness of the surrounding landscape; the strong horizontal lines of the architecture and the softer, more fluid expression of the curved forms. Together, they establish a visual language that feels deeply connected to place.

Architecture: Space Division
Build: Broswick Builders