#Making dreamplan tools in lower left larger tv
Other homes from their past have been drawn on more kindly, including a Lockwood that inspired a wall of New Zealand-grown cedar above their bed, and on a feature wall in the TV area. In their new build they gave their electrician strict instructions that not a single recessed light be included, opting instead for traditional drop lights that add character to an already rich interior. "It was a stock-standard conventional new house and we were just so disappointed in how warm it wasn't and how much power all the recessed lights used." Underwhelmed by how hot it was in summer, how cold it was in winter and the pathetic and expensive inadequacy of dozens of recessed lights, they used it as a model of what not to do. The home is 100 square metres bigger than their last home, a small conventional build in a Waikawa subdivision, but its power consumption is lower, says Toby, calling the previous home their "biggest inspiration". "Summer has been fantastic, with virtually no sun coming directly into the house."
Kate says they were initially unsure about the look of the roofline, split by the high windows, but were won over by their function, which has proved itself again and again. That mapping dictated the placement of clerestory windows, which sit high on a wall running east-west through the house, ensuring the southern side gets direct light in cold months, and is cooled in summer, when they can be opened. Well before the plan was finalised, the couple and their designer, Dai Jones, of Daisign in Blenheim, mapped the impact of the sun year-round, ensuring the roofline would block direct sunlight through a wall of north facing windows and doors in summer, but allow its warmth in winter. But their most powerful tool is the sun, and none of its movements have been left to chance.