Cornege-Preston House / Bonnifait + Associates

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Text description provided by the architects. The building sits on a one-hectare site of undulating grassland in the town of Martinborough in the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. As part of the project 400 trees were planted in a grid that parallels the site’s boundaries while the 40m x 6m house is angled to follow the gentle undulations of the land. The “landscape grid” enters into the house in the form of decks/garage and courtyards which punctuate the volume. The long façade faces northwest for maximum exposure to winter afternoon sun and, consequently, best passive solar-energy gains.

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The key features are…

• Concrete floor and wall construction, with a ‘heat-sink’ (Trombe) wall between the main living area and the guest rooms.
• Water heating by solar Hot water panel on roof topped up by thermostat-controlled electricity.
• Multi-zone underfloor heating (also by thermostat-controlled electricity).
• Double-glazed windows and skylights for cross-room solar penetration and heat retention, with louvres and sliding doors for natural ventilation.
• Wall and ceiling insulation of Wool.
• Seperate Guest Wing with 2 ensuited double bedrooms.
• Views to the surrounding landscape from every room.
• Sustainably harvested macracarpa pine external cladding/decking and Italian poplar ceiling linings for visual warmth and acoustic absorption.
• Two 25,000 litre tanks capturing rainwater (meaning that town supply water usage is about one third of the metered allowance).
• A separately filtered (0.5 micron) and fast-heating water supply in the kitchen.

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