Of the land

Decorating articles and inspiration from TrendsIdeas

The soft grey and orange tones of this beachside house were inspired by the landscape.

Architects and designers often take a cue from the landscape when planning a design scheme. For this project, it was the local geology and the native plants that provided inspiration.

This beachside home was painted in Resene Lumbersider, in a custom orange shade.

The house, designed by Gordon Dalkie Architects, Christchurch, has already been recognised for its innovative colour – it recently won a Resene Total Colour Residential Exterior Maestro Award for Excellence in Colour Use.

The design team says the beachside house was conceptually designed as a piece of driftwood caught on a rock at the water’s edge – its movement represented by mass flax planting on the bank. The colours of the exterior were chosen to reinforce this concept, and to reflect the local environment, while simultaneously being bold enough to stand alone.

The anchoring form, or rock, which is articulated as a climbing wall accessed from the roof terrace, is painted in Resene Half Tapa. This warm light grey is reminiscent of the local granite gravels. The rest of the house is painted in a warm burnt orange – a colour glimpsed in the local iron pan strata layer on the site. This was a custom colour created by the Resene colour matching service.

All the exterior walls were painted in Resene Lumbersider, an Environmental Choice-approved waterborne paint.