Rock the Boat
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The exterior of the Popadich residence is modeled after boat storage sheds, while the interior is outfitted with industrial concrete and ply.
Photo by: Simon Devitt -
Davor (with his wife, Abbe, and son, August) designed the main living and dining pavilion as a double-height space to increase its perceived volume, and added high cubbies for extra storage.
Photo by: Simon Devitt -
With its pitched roof and verticality, the house blends with the surrounding seaside neighborhood yet remains architecturally distinct thanks to its aluminum cladding.
Photo by: Simon Devitt -
Davor and August check out the yard from the living room. “The bifold Vistalite doors allow us to open the house up completely and enjoy the fresh, warm air,” Davor says.
Photo by: Simon Devitt -
Warm Front
Auckland’s climate is relatively mild, but Davor and Abbe decided not to scrimp on insulation, installing fiberglass batts with R-values above building code requirements in the ceiling and the walls. This, combined with the home’s concrete floor (with standard polystyrene insulation) that retains solar heat, means Davor and Abbe only use their New Zealand–made wood-burning Warmington Studio fireplace in the coldest months.warmington.co.nz
All of the Lights
Davor and Abbe created their striking living-room lights—colored cords with exposed bulbs—by calling on a number of different suppliers to put together a look that suits their home’s pared-down aesthetic. The cord for their electrical cables is from Frinab in Sweden, and they teamed the lights with stainless-steel switch plates by Forbes & Lomax sourced through Abbe’s site, Piper Traders.frinab.seforbesandlomax.compipertraders.co.nz
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Chair Necessities
The couple’s four Chair One dining chairs by Konstantin Grcic for Magis are among their most prized possessions. They had been given their dining table as a wedding gift but couldn’t afford enough chairs to surround it, so they opted for a wooden bench on one side and the Grcic chairs on the other. Davor says he’s pleased they purchased the chairs early in the design process before the budget got really tight.magisdesign.com
Photo by: Simon Devitt -
Island Life
The appealing, handcrafted appearance of the concrete kitchen island is a happy accident, the result of the concrete not settling fully in its timber framing. When the framing was removed, the builder, Peter Davidson, was worried that Davor and Abbe would be disappointed with the bubbled result and offered to start the process again, but they loved its one-off feeling and persuaded him to keep it that way.
Photo by: Simon Devitt -
Floor Bored
Abbe and Davor worried that plywood floors in the mezzanine bedroom would feel monotonous, given that the walls and ceilings were ply too. So they sourced second-grade French oak floorboards and filled in the holes in the timber’s knots themselves. Then they used leftover boards to make a door to cover a small opening between their room and August’s and for the sliding pantry door in the kitchen.qualitywoodfloors.co.nz
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Photo by: Simon Devitt
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