REMUERA
Photographs by Staff Photographer.
View of the building from the south.
The building recently completed at 562 Middle Gap Road, for the South British Insurance Co., Ltd., has one most unusual feature which makes the layout and design something different in building construction work.
The unusual feature is the fact that the house is boomerang-shaped. The decision to build the house of this shape was influenced by the contours of the site which is set on a spur forming a sharp bend in Middle Gap Road. The road at this point is cut steeply into the hillside, the cutting rising almost vertically, 20′ to 25' above the road level. At this height the contour of the spur was reason- ably level for a curving horizontal length of over 100 feet and with a width of about 20 to 30 feet, and then sloped steeply again.
The architect, Mr. Geo. W. Grey, in an endeavour to make the most of the site decided to follow the curve of the spur and designed the building so that the living room- dining room section facing southward was almost at right angles to the bedroom section which faced in a south- westerly direction.
In the centre of the building between these two sections are located the entrance and stair hall at the back and a fan-shaped room, which could be used as bedroom or study, in the curving portion in front.
The result is a most happy one, getting away as it does from the stereotyped square or oblong-shaped house to something which proved adaptable to the several changes in the original requirements which became necessary as the building work proceeded.
It was originally intended to include two complete flats in the building, one on the ground floor and one on the
A view from Middle Gap Road from the west.
The northern aspect of the building, showing the driveway to the house.
upper floor, and the framework was designed for this pur- pose. However, it was later decided that the upper floor should be divided into a smaller 3-roomed flat and two single-roomed studio apartments for bachelors. Because of the unusual shape of the building this was done without any difficulty whatsoever as it was found possible to divide the upper floor about the curved central part into the accommodation required.
The building itself is of re-inforced concrete frame- work with 9" exterior panel walls and 9" and smaller sized interior panel walls, all of Vi-Con Block. The floors and ceilings are of hollow tile design.
The access road from Middle Gap Road leads directly into the large two-car garage which forms the basement under part of the main building. From here some sweep- ing concrete steps lead up to the main ground floor level. The entrance hall, as was mentioned before, is set in the rear of the building, the inner curve of the boomerang. and leads on the left into the ground floor apartment, and to the right up the staircase to the first floor.
The entrance stair hall is necessarily of limited pro- portions as room had to be provided behind it for a fair sized corridor inside each apartment to connect the two wings of the building. This was done quite successfully, the ground floor gaining a very convenient telephone nook and additional cupboard as a result of the sweep of the stairway.
Another rather unusual feature of the design of the building is the disposition of the servants quarters which are set on a contour half way between the ground and the first floor levels of the main building on a retaining wall which defines the back line of the lawn. This lawn adds spacious outdoor living area to the ground floor apartment as it is actually an enclosed open air addition to the dining The entrance to the servants quarters being set
room.
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