United it stands, Auckland

Skilled teamwork in all regards means this beachfront beauty is both striking and hidden in plain sight.

It’s not often that sites become available on the sought-after Takapuna beachfront on Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s North Shore, so when Anna Tong of CAAHT Studio Architects was called on to design a home here, she didn’t take the opportunity lightly. There are several roles a new dwelling can play on the main stretch of this popular beach, which meant privacy was a consideration but so was the home’s visual contribution to its coastal neighbourhood.

“There was an existing modernist house on the site, which was lovely but rundown and unsuitable for our clients’ needs,” says Anna. “We felt a lot of responsibility to design a house that would honour what had once stood in its place and were keen to achieve something that would have a sense of permanence while sitting comfortably within this environment.”