Herne Bay Haven

Wallpaper’s April issue includes a Pacific-inspired Herne Bay home designed Auckland’s Stevens Lawson Architects. “For us, it’s the ultimate modernist abstraction,” says architect Nicholas Stevens of the impressive structure, which features a glass-reinforced concrete facade, carvings inspired by tapa cloth and fluid living spaces with optional timber partitions. The two-storey house, owned by skin specialist Dr Mark Gray and partner Suzanah Kearns, won the 2005 NZ Institute of Architects’ Supreme Award for Architecture. “Our previous house was designed by Nick and Gary [Lawson],” says Gray. “We had confidence in what they had achieved and gave them a relatively open brief.”