Tahuna: Modern house with large glass windows and outdoor dining area illuminated at night, reflecting in a swimming pool.

Tahuna

Tahuna: Modern concrete building with vertical architectural elements and a staircase surrounded by shrubs and plants.
Tahuna: Modern house with illuminated entrance and wooden slats on roll-up porch, surrounded by landscaped garden at night.

Eman Yousef as a sole designer has won the “ADNZ Regional Award 2023 for New Home Over 300sqm”

Building Area: 343 sqm

The judges said: “A heavily guarded secret sits on the Tāmaki River, nestled at the edge of

the Tāhuna Tree Nature Reserve. This is a very gutsy, staunch response to the site, daring to

open out in one direction while completely closing off from another. Muscular concrete

panels provide an unflinching entry wall that in time will get hidden behind the planted

edge, while inside the angled plan offers a diagonal experience not expected from outside.

Careful timber louvres wrap over the external decks and into the dining room overlooking

the pool. The interplay between inside and out continues with external finishes flowing

inside, while internal viewpoints open outwards. A clever, sophisticated design”

Tahuna: Modern house entrance at night with a wooden door, decorative wreath, stairs, and exterior lighting, surrounded by plants and trees.
Tahuna: Indoor scene with a wooden pathway leading to a dark doorway, surrounded by fern plants and interior rooms visible through open doors, dimly lit with natural and artificial light.
Tahuna: Architectural blueprint of a building's floor plan showing rooms, staircases, and parking spaces, featuring north orientation and measurement details.
Tahuna: Architectural blueprint of a house floor plan with detailed rooms, furniture, stairs, and exterior boundaries, featuring north orientation and measurement details.
Tahuna: Architectural blueprint of a modern building with trees, a person walking, and structural measurements.
Tahuna: Night view of a modern house exterior with illuminated indoor spaces, stairs, plants, and large windows showing rooms inside.
Tahuna: Modern, multi-level house with concrete exterior and large windows, situated on a hillside with lush greenery and plants surrounding it.

Project Description:

Eman has designed the house for clients who sought a completely original dwelling that they could both contribute to creatively. A private home built in 2022 surrounded by views over Tahuna Torea Nature Reserve and Tamaki River and sharing three boundaries with the reserve, the site has a covenant that restricted the height of the development. These were the main parameters guiding the conceptual design and form generation of the new high-end two-storey modern residence.

Tahuna has simple, streamlined and modern masses, solid planes at the street side and a central entry emphasised by a continuous concrete wall and roof arrangement. The design is a complex concrete structure with a minimalist effect.

The upper level is an open plan with a flow of spaces around an internal garden that integrates nature from the outside to achieve continuity inside. The home contains a large open living area, pool, kitchen, dining, powder room and ensuite bedroom on the top level. It has one guest bedroom, office, and studio on the lower level (the latter two are available to be converted to bedrooms in future). All spaces have accessibility to the view from different perspectives. The very spacious structure allows expansive vistas of water and nature. Landscaping has played an essential role in merging the residence with the surrounding nature reserve and forming a smooth transition between the two levels, using stepped platforms that read as the building extending into nature.

Design features and creative solutions:

The brief, site controls, and conceptual design values have resulted in bold features and innovative solutions.

• Sustainability: The design sought natural ventilation and reduced heat loss by minimising Southern-side openings while maximising Northern-side openings. Natural lighting is realised through large openings and a skylight.

• Views: The Tamaki estuary surrounds the site, and the focus was on creating an unrestricted outlook that maximises the expansive feel.

• Nature: Integrating nature with architecture was paramount. The adjacent reserve was treated as a design entity, flowing simultaneously inside and outside, with the enclosed and internal gardens being central to the living and circulation areas.

• Covenant and site restrictions: The site constraints suggested one level from the natural ground; with minimal excavation, two levels resulted while concurrently achieving indoor/outdoor flow, privacy from the street and optimal access solutions.

• Spaces arrangement: Living spaces face North and views while services such as kitchen/bathrooms are located on the Southern/street side. The Southern-side architectural masses seamlessly hide all services in the main elevation.

• Human Experience & Privacy: The choice of building materials was affected by the modern style Eman and her clients sought. Not only did the building need privacy from the street, but it needed emotional warmth. This was achieved via solid planes with carefully positioned cut-outs and slots, these forms directing one to the front entry. Once inside the residence, a contrary feeling is experienced: the feeling of being guided to the entry by angles and vertical panels is replaced by wide-open horizons once inside.

 

ADNZ Sole Designer: Eman Yousef

Landscape Design (Soft Scape): Kirsten Sach, Kirsten Sach Landscape Design Ltd

Photography: Johan Koch

Interior Design: Bare Living Ltd, Sonya Anderson and owner Christine Hobbs

Tahuna: Modern house with a swimming pool in the foreground, illuminated interior, outdoor dining area, and large windows, double doors, evening sky.
Tahuna: Modern white building with decorative metal leaf sculptures on the wall, surrounded by plants, under a cloudy sky.
Tahuna: Living room with black walls, large green sectional sofa with pillows, floral ottoman, small rustic stool, and indoor plants, including a fern and palm, in front of a window with a skylight.
Tahuna: A modern interior room with two red chairs, a telescope, and a large window overlooking trees and water. The room has artwork on the walls, a decorative floor lamp, and a leopard-print rug.
Tahuna: Bathroom with a stone wall on the right, a large mirror, a unique metallic sink on a marble counter, a hand soap dispenser on the wall, and a decorative angel with wings hanging on the ceiling.
Tahuna: Aerial view of a modern house with a backyard swimming pool, surrounded by lush green trees and plants, with outdoor lounge chairs on the patio.

© 2026, Eman Yousef Architects