b'pictures: Elizabeth GoodallWhen homeowners are developing the brief for their ultimate home, they usually expect to take some time over the process. However, they dont usually have the luxury of 22 years to contemplate their section and make their plans.Dunedin nurse Helen and academic John did just that.We didnt want to make a big impact on the land. TheTo get the metallic way weve planted, the house is not easily seen and takeslook, use Resene We bought the section next door to our home 22 yearsEnamacryl Metallic.ago. It had a derelict old house on it, which we demolished,up only a small part of the section, Helen explains. WeSee the Resene are very enthusiastic gardeners with New Zealand natives,Metallics and Special and was full of rubbish, which we cleared, recalls Helen.Effects colour chart.We saved one old pohutukawa and a cabbage tree, andand we didnt want a lawn. The decking goes right out spent the years planting more natives. to the garden, with gravel paths and pavers outside the downstairs bedroom.Now,thewholesectionishometomassesofbirds: bellbirds, kereru, tui, fantails, warblers and tiny little wax- Niko agrees: The garden is so fabulous, the building eyes. Today, the urban plot at the edge of the city feelsplatform just spoke for itself and for the sun. It was just truly rural, which perfectly suits this outdoorsy couplesready for a house to go up there, protected from the lifestyle; when they are not gardening, they love hikingwind, but letting the sun through. We knew exactly what around their corner of the country.we should do.The pair had the luxury of time to observe their landhowWith such a strong emphasis on a green building and the sun fell through the seasons, the best views, the worstusing passive solar energy for heat, the two-level shed windsand planted around their ideal building platformwith its double-storey void delivers exactly as much living accordingly. By the time they briefed their architect, Nikospace as the couple needed. Niko stacked two bedrooms Young of Parker Warburton Team Architecture, they knewand bathrooms on top of each other in one corner of the Reseneexactly what they wanted. It was to be a simple, very Newbox, with a kitchen and open mezzanine study stack inBlack HazeZealand shed, which was energy efcient, collected asthe opposite corner. A cosy living room niche is tuckedResenemuch sun as possible, didnt waste trees and tted intobeneath the stairs and upper walkway, lit by a log burner,Bunkertheir native section. In other words, a modern version ofwhile the front of the living and dining space is open toReseneMonzaa house that settlers have been building in New Zealandtwo storeys of sun, views and garden. All this ts onto a Resenefor a century or more.tiny footprint of only 95sqm. Shiraz| 15'