Devonport renovation wins NZIA award for architect’s ‘fearless approach’

For this huge renovation project, architect Michael O’Sullivan of Bull O’Sullivan Architecture chose to defy the traditional “Englishness” of Devonport, one of Auckland’s oldest suburbs, to create a home that with a much stronger connection to the stunning volcanic topography.

His design for the Keene Family Home project has won a Housing – Alterations & Additions Award in the 2023 Auckland Te Kāhui Whaihanga New Zealand Institute of Architects Awards, with the awards jury praising his “fearless approach”.

O’Sullivan tells the story of how Auckland’s oldest volcanic cones were formed during a series of violent eruptions more than 50,000 years ago, which gave birth to Maunganuika (North Head).

“Located amid the immaculately preserved 1900s streetscape of Devonport, the Keene family home now clings to its volcanic slopes,” he says. And he notes that Māori were drawn to Te Hau Kapua (the Devonport peninsula) for its rich volcanic soils and marine environment. European settlers were later attracted to the peninsula for the same reasons.

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“Jubilee Avenue in Devonport soon got its name, in 1897, in honour of Queen Victoria’s 50th Jubilee. In the celebratory spirit of a jubilee, this home honours the spectacular views across the Auckland skyline.”

But O’Sullivan says there is another side to the early adoption of an English heritage: “My dad and his brother came here from Ireland before the Second World War. My uncle thought it appropriate to take English-speaking lessons to sound more like an English person, in the hope he would be more accepted into New Zealand society.

“I could never understand this. New Zealand society, at the time, still had signs on licensed premises that said: No Māori, No Irish and No Dog. And this [bias] applied to the Californian bungalows that were popping up everywhere in Auckland. They simply were not English enough.”

O’Sullivan says when his client wanted to add and alter her bungalow on Jubilee Ave, council heritage architects wanted the Californian bungalow to “hold the front of the English scrum that is now the Devonport streetscape”.

“I had already heard from the horses mouth… a council heritage architect stated he wanted to see a row of chimneys, just like on Coronation Street. What is wrong with Country Calendar? I asked.”

The architect’s subsequent design approach has completely transformed the original bungalow. He has added what he calls “a series of Machu Picchu-like terraced structures that allow this family to understand and enjoy the mountain, just as Māori had for centuries before the English.

“From the highest swimming pool on North Head to its basement movie theatre, this home has been carefully arranged to integrate the bungalow with the mountain by way of a 51-step western stair… with courtyards and chasms, pavilions and caves, living rooms and awe-inspiring views.”

Quality, natural, renewable materials line the home’s interior, including reclaimed timbers, cork tiles and 100 percent wool carpets. Externally, timber weatherboards, shingles and volcanic stone walls visually connect the extension with the existing home and streetscape beyond.

The use of rich colours extracted from the vegetation of Maunganuika create a distinction between old and new, receding elegantly into the hill behind.

“This considered addition extends the lifespan of the existing bungalow to suit the lifestyle of a 21st-century working mother and her children. Adding a workspace at the upper level provides greater flexibility. With a dark place to watch movies and a sunny place to swim, this home provides a generous number of places to enjoy.”

The project also won a Resene Colour Award, with the jury saying: “Dramatic, adventurous, and truly authentic combinations of colour define the numerous spatial attitudes that make up this fascinating family home. Natural stone, cork, timber, glass, carpets, paint and a variety of applied finishes combine in a reverie of colour.”