Open + Shut

Black perforated screens that filter light like lace

The defining feature of this Waiheke Island new build is a series of black perforated metal screens. They allow the home to open wide to the view, or draw in for privacy and intimacy, filtering light the way lace does — soft, dappled, ever-changing. The result is a house where indoor and outdoor living flow into each other, rather than competing for space. It’s a priority we hear often from clients planning a new home, Waiheke Island, or a holiday home elsewhere on the coast.

An internal garden, built to breathe

Beneath the main roof sits a unique internal garden, timber screens framing its edges. It’s a calm, climate-moderating space at the heart of the plan — one that can be opened up to extend the living areas, or closed off to create a quiet, private retreat. We bring this kind of architectural flexibility to every residential new build, shifting the design to match how the owners actually live, whether on a coastal site like this one or in a leafy Auckland suburb.

A home designed to flex with family life

Inside, two bedrooms and an office — doing double duty as a flexible third bedroom — give the house room to adapt as needs change. The interiors lean into warmth and calm: plywood joinery, soothing blues and greens, and a grounding green carpet underfoot. Built-in seating doubles as extra sleeping space when the house fills up with family or friends — a small detail that does a lot of work for a Waiheke Island holiday home.

A crisp, characterful exterior

Durable black corrugated metal cladding gives the exterior a crisp, elegant presence, while the playful eyebrow above the corner window marks the house as both functional and characterful.

Open + Shut changes with life — opening up for guests, closing down for quiet, and reshaping itself to match the rhythms of the people who live there.

Open + Shut won the 2026 NZIA Auckland Architecture Award for New House, Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects’ recognition of design excellence in residential architecture. It was also a finalist in the 2026 HOME Magazine Home of the Year competition.

A home like this is considered, flexible, and genuinely shaped around how you live. If that’s the kind of architecture you’re after, we would love to talk. Get in touch to start a conversation about your site and your project, or browse more of our new home projects first.