Lyall Bay Box 131.

A tight site in Wellington’s quirky seaside suburb Lyall Bay, was the perfect landing pad for this iconic, award-winning relocatable home. At only 132m2 the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom beachy abode features contemporary galley kitchen, office, separate laundry and scullery with spacious open plan living, eye-catching architectural features and eclectic charm throughout.

The brief was for a unique, ‘stand out piece of architecture’ reflected in both the exterior and interior. Because of the small, awkward site (372m2) and urban environment the client wanted an offsite built home and the flexibility to relocate the dwelling at a future date. The simple rectangular design catered to the narrow site, taking full advantage of the restricted area by positioning parking space to the front, a large entertainment deck area to the western side and a functional services area concealed to the rear.

The building was also designed for transportation with a robust, strengthened structure. A rigid bracing layer to the full perimeter of the building effectively helped minimise building movement during transport. The offsite prefabricated build also allowed speedier, controlled construction and kept the close-living neighbors (and client!) happy with limited mess and disruption onsite.

So, it seems bigger is not always necessarily better and this home demonstrates just that. A considered design makes efficient use of internal spaces with design features employed to create a sense of spaciousness and reduce wasted areas.