Telfer House (featured in SCOPE magazine)

The large 320m2 home (471m2 if a large standalone garage is included) was custom designed, in close collaboration with owners Jonathon and Janine Telfer, by Alan Simpkin of Arcline Architecture Ltd in the Far North.

The home may be large but cleverly has a small house feel through the architect’s adherence to the clients’ brief for the creation of a central “hub” combining kitchen, dining and family room – kids space being closely aligned to the kitchen.

Jonathon Telfer, of award-winning Telfer Roofing, says architectural designer Alan Simpkin was almost immediately able to interpret their ideas for the home when he first walked onto the site.

“It impressed us that Alan was able to come up with a design concept that replicated what we wanted”, says Jonathon. “His background in building was a benefit with his first hand knowledge of different products for us to take into consideration.

“Group housing is prominent in the market but we wanted a superior take on those homes including the use of a bigger choice of brick in the mix with vertical cedar cladding, both of these meeting the requirements of covenants on the subdivision.

“The Premier Estate brick is laid in a stack-bonded style to blend well with the cedar cladding above and beneath the windows.”

Living in the sub-tropical north it was imperative for the home to feature accessible and ample areas for indoor/outdoor flow and the design features a large and sheltered outdoor decking area in close proximity to the pool with its frameless glass balustrading. The deck is elevated to ensure easy views of action when children are in the pool.

The home has four bedrooms, an office, two bathrooms, three WCs, kitchen, dining, family room and lounge with constant reference to the outdoors. There is a two-car garage plus a standalone garage which has a set down floor to accommodate a boat or caravan with parking space for two more cars and includes a home office with toilet and an upstairs man cave.

A design feature which became instantly measurable when the home was completed in late 2019 was the configuration of the sheltered deck area which keeps the main living room cool during a typically warm day but then retains an appropriate temperature late in the day and in the evening.

Brief

Says Alan Simpkin, of Arcline Architecture Ltd: “The clients wanted a classic, timeless home that wouldn’t date with time so gable forms and cedar cladding mixed with long Premier Estate bricks were chosen. We needed a roof that was sympathetic to the coastal area and being in the Far North District Council zone required low reflectivity and natural colours. The roof needed to be long lasting and sustainable with a good warranty.”

Telfer Roofing is the Gerard distributor north of Whangarei and a significant feature of the home is the Gerard CF Shake profile selected for the 35° pitched roof. The CF range is suitable for all wind zones in New Zealand and the profile is designed with no visible fasteners and these are fully concealed from the weather.

“The Gerard CF Shake was the best choice and with its slate appearance it really complements the architecture of the home”, says Alan Simpkin.

“The varying tones of the roof blend in well with the surroundings and the imported large palms complete the natural, sub tropical landscaping around the home. The CF concealed fixings are great which we consider to be important in this sea spray zone – less holes in the roof and none of the fixing holes are exposed to the weather or are visible.

“The clients wanted a roof with a generous pitch and this was a great opportunity for Jono and Janine who own Telfer Roofing to show off Gerard’s CF Shake profile”.

The generous expanse of the shake profile on the roof is one of the home’s special attributes and as Jonathon adds: “You see a lot of the roof which we are both pleased to feature given the interest being taken in our home as the subdivision grows”.