Beach Hut is a tiny home nestled on a gently sloping Coromandel coastal site surrounded by an ancient forest of mature Pohutukawa. From its elevated position there are wide coastal views over an isolated surf break providing a contrast to the forest setting. This tiny home was designed to increase the capacity of an existing bach on site to allow the clients (a young family) and their friends to inhabit the site in a relaxed and informal manner.
Beach Hut was conceived as a simple timber box with a secondary mezzanine form to create a sleeping platform. Shutters and canopies notionally open and close the timber box to provide both shade and weather protection. A small bathroom allows it to be used completely independently of the existing bach.
This home was constructed off site on a tiny house trailer utilising steel stud framing. Beach Hut was then towed to its site and located on simple foundations. The “pop top”, deck, screens and canopies all clip on allowing for ease of transportation while expanding its functionality during use.
Photography © Ross Keane
NZIA Waikato & Bay of Plenty Architecture Award Winner - 2023 - Small Project
NZIA New Zealand Architecture Award Winner - 2024 - Small Project
Beach Hut
This project is a curation of the bach experience into just enough – a thoughtfully wrought shelter from which to contemplate the glorious environment of Aotearoa New Zealand. Beach Hut celebrates being in our coastal landscape in a quiet, modest way. Architecturally tuned to weather forces, the sensible and well-proportioned shading elements and openings moderate and extend the domestic experience of the tiny spaces. Tucking in storage in delightful and sensible ways, this project is a model for living lightly (at least on holiday!).
NZIA National Architecture Awards 2024
This 17m2 ‘tiny home’ exemplifies the architects’ expertise in prefabricated and transportable micro-dwellings. Serving as supplementary accommodation at a picturesque beachfront locale, the structure opens effortlessly to site and is spatially dynamic internally, framing views and allowing multi-faceted inhabitation and use. While the technical achievements of portability are inherent, its formal gestures are architecturally dynamic and refined. Material curation and detail further distinguish the building as a laudable, human-centred structure that is intimately connected to its surroundings, rather than a mere functional unit on wheels.
Waikato & Bay of Plenty Local Architecture Awards 2023