Home magazine nz house of the year

Over the years Herbst Architects have made a name for themselves and their distinctive architectural style. Here are 10 of our favourite houses by the award-winning duo

Lance and Nicola Herbst of Herbst Architectshave become a regular feature in Home Magazine over the years. After moving to New Zealand from South Africa over 15 years ago, the Herbsts have made a name for themselves for their mastery of lightweight timber baches. Their assemblages of feathery, diffuse, intricate structures effortlessly dissolve the boundaries between inside and out.

The application of their skill has resulted in a diverse range of responses, from their own bare-bones beach shack on Great Barrier Island to the glassy, ethereal house in a pohutukawa grove beside Piha Beach. It’s no wonder this award-winning duo is known for creating some of New Zealand’s best architecture.

Scroll down to see 10 homes that showcase their incredible talent

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The Piha house: This getaway in a pohutukawa grove on Auckland’s west coast won the Home of the Year award in 2012. The Piha site was completely covered in pohutukawa so four of the trees had to be cut down to allow the home to be constructed.

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The Piha house: The living area, where the ceiling rises as high as six-and-a-half metres, was designed “so you could experience the trees in their entirety”, Lance says.

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Iron Maiden: Tucked away in a valley on the Coromandel Peninsula, the 2016 Home of the Year combines rusty allusions to local farm buildings with a proudly contemporary form.

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Iron Maiden: The large concrete fireplace surround serves to anchor the sitting area, while also serving as a backrest for the bench seat at the dining table. Rustic materials and details used throughout the home are often vintage or deliberately aged.

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Kawakawa Bach: Along the front of the house, there’s a west-facing kitchen-living-dining area with floor-to-ceiling sliders designed to operate like an indoor deck.

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The Lantern House: The material palette is influenced by the owners travels throughout South East Asia. Floors and ceiling are lined with Japanese black-stained teak and black timber battens wrap the kitchen and hall.

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This Waimauku home blurs the boundaries between inside and out. From the walled, public side, the only breaks in the rock, concrete and metal are a small window into the kitchen, and a large horizontal window, revealing nothing of what’s inside.

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Waimauku home: Inside, the house is light and modular, with sliding walls of slatted timber. In the living space, the doors all retract to open up completely on two sides, transitioning to a sunny terrace to the north and a roofed outdoor living space to the west.

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Castle Rock home: The entry level of the home is made up of two decks and two rooms, each of them with an array of doors, shutters and screens that offer a variety of configurations between openness and closure.

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Muriwai beach house: Herbst Architects often use timber in their interiors, but here they’ve used Gib, painted white as a backdrop for the owner's art.

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Utility shed:This Great Barrier utility shed and a 6sqm deck, unfolds and unpacks in the manner of a Swiss army knife when the owners arrive, and then lock's up securely while they’re away.

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Utility shed: Stripped back to the bare necessities, the Herbst architects have distilled everything you need and nothing you don’t into this tiny project.

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Herbst bach: Their very own Great Barrier bach was built in 2000 and blurs the lines between inside and out.

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Herbst bach: The bach began as a water-tank tower with a butterfly roof, flanked by a small kitchen and bathroom.

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Kaipara pavilion: This pool and pavilion was designed for owners wanting to enjoy the site before getting into the business of building a house.

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Kaipara pavilion: The pool and the deck occupy one end. At the other end, a post-and-beam enclosure with a gently pitched roof shelters a table and chairs, a small kitchen and sliding screens of cedar slats that minimise the wind.

Words by: Jeremy Hansen, Simon Farrell-Green, Henry Oliver, Margot White. Photography by: Patrick Reynolds, Jackie Meiring.