Auckland-based studio Herbst Architects completed the Bark House project in 2005.
This contemporary family home sits on a lot among a grove of leafy trees in Hamilton, the most populous city of the Waikato Region, in the North Island of New Zealand.
Bark House by Herbst Architects:
“The site is cloaked in a sapling forest.
In order to showcase the beauty of the trees a clerestory window runs the length of the living pavilion to display the canopy and a low cropped window runs on the opposite side to display the tree trunks.
The hooked form that resulted from this window arrangement lent itself to the notion of an agrarian structure historically found in Tamahere.
The structural logic and materiality of the building then followed suit. Large steel portal frames march independently from the profiled metal skin and glass infill. These portals seat themselves on a two timber rafts which in turn are supported by rails of concrete blocks.
The building was positioned in amongst the trees and not in the large clearing, to further capitalise on the beauty of the forest. “
Photos by: Becky Nunes
Every building shall have a character. Senseless forms and shapes are now being defined as architecture. Bombastic designs are being forwarded by architects for acceptance by people. Have we lost sense of aesthetics?