This award-winning passive house is a fresh take on the classic farmhouse—simple, elegant, and thoughtfully designed for modern suburban life. At its heart is a central courtyard and deck, blurring the line between indoors and out, making it just as easy to enjoy a morning coffee in the sunshine as it is to host friends around the dining table. Flexible living zones shift effortlessly between open and cosy, so the space adapts as life does.
Sustainability is woven into every part of the home, with a high-performance design that includes Passivehaus principles including airtight membranes, mechanical ventilation, and thermally broken windows, wrapped in thick, twin-skin walls that keep the temperature steady year-round. It’s the kind of house that feels good to be in, knowing it treads lightly on the planet.
The layout reflects the owners’ love of the outdoors, with a smart mudroom between the garage and laundry for easy transitions from garden to home. There’s room to grow, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a farmhouse kitchen with a scullery, and a generous workshop tucked behind a double garage.
Set against a backdrop of riverlands and native planting—including the beautifully named ‘Garden of Eden’ project—the home feels like part of the landscape. The use of locally sourced Japanese Cedar on the exterior and warm Poplar inside adds to the grounded, natural vibe.
Sustainability Features
- Passive house / passivehaus
- Passive solar design
- Thermally broken windows (minimising heat transfer between inside and outside)
- Mechanical ventilation
- Airtight construction
- Locally sourced timber
- Recycled stone flooring
“Built on a low budget for a home designed to passive house principles, the outcome delivers a lot and should be seen as an exemplar for what could and should be our future – designing and building to passive house standards and applying these principles to mass development. Simple gable forms are carved, scaled and layered to create a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces. Timber was sourced from family farms and stones in the floor from the owners’ former home in Ōtautahi Christchurch.” – 2024 NZIA Nelson/Marlborough Architecture Awards
Built for both privacy and connection, this award-winning passive house gently opens to neighbouring properties—many of them family—encouraging community without compromising calm. Custom joinery throughout adds a personal touch, from built-in desks and bookshelves to clever storage and window seats that invite you to slow down and settle in.
