Davy Home.

Davy won MB Gold 2014, MB Category Winner 2014, MB National Finalist 2014, NZ Timber Awards National Finalist 2014, Resene Colour Award 2014.

A complete design and build package where we took the project from two pieces of A4 paper sketch through to code of compliance. The building was completed to exceed current regulations and was built Vedic design. The home was complete with extensive recycled timber and the exterior was finished in recycled telephone poles.

Davy is an Eco home built to ancient Vedic principles. A Vedic home can be described as the science and art of creating structures where every part is in accord with the whole. The home is as much a part of nature, as nature is part of the home. It incorporates essential elements of sustainable design. A win-win formula embracing philosophies about construction and the environment.

The Davy home has been created with the Vedic principle in mind; to use materials that are natural, non-toxic and suitable to the climate conditions. The home features, recycled tawa flooring and recycled iron bank and tallowwood for the cladding and kitchen bench. It also features salvage tawa for the internal sliders, salvage oak for the vanities and TV shelf, and salvage kauri for the decking. The door and window jambs used a concealed fixing detail to avoid any visible fixings in the recycled yellow cedar. An upside of reusing build materials is that it makes it easier to keep the budget under control. But you have to be determined, persistent and a little cheeky to get the desired results.

This home is a strong and solid geometric form that references to Mangere Mountain. It’s cleft is cleverly countered by a butterfly roof that rises toward the sky. This allows light into the centre of the home, giving an immediate sense of spaciousness. The toilets and sinks all face north, while cooking must be done facing the east (since the sun’s energy is most nourishing when it is rising), the precision of vedic architecture encourages precision in other aspects of design. The angle over the roof over the living room for example: during the winter solstice, the midday sun reached right to the very edge of the concrete pad in the living zone.

Overall this home has been inspired by the inner greenie, with an ultimate goal to compliment rather than compromise when fusing two philosophies together. There is a drawing of the home featured above the family dining table which portrays a child’s-eye view, captioned: ‘This is our House. I love our house. We are lucky.’

The Davy home had a Homestar assessment which features a 7 star rating, as well as making the national finals of the NZ Wood Timber Design awards in 2014 finishing for timber innovation and also features in the latest green magazine from Australia.