Cocker Townhouses in Wood St, Freemans bay, Auckland

Featured at the back page of the Aug/Sep 2007 copy of Home and Entertaining magazine is the My Favourite Building feature. Seleting his favourite this month is architect Ken Crosson--winner in 2005 of Home and Entertaining's Home of the Decade award for his distinctive Coromandel bach --and he's chosen Claude Megson's Cocker Townhouses in Wood St, Freemans bay, Auckland, designed in 1969 and competed in 1973.


Click on the pic to enlarge, or here to see a PDF of the page [5.5MB].

Says Crosson in the article:

“Claude Megson was one of my lecturers at architecture school and I was always fascinated by his work. These townhouses are one of his finest projects. They are a grouping of four town houses in an existing Victorian suburb. The design is fundamentally different to its neighbours, but is totally respectful of them. Megson was a master of context. He extended the existing street pattern into the site. He re-interpreted forms, elements and details in a modern context.

“I was lucky enough to live in one of the town houses in the 1980s. More recently when another of them was damaged by fire, we helped restore It. Bill and Finola Cocker commissioned Megson to design the houses in the early 70s. Bill was an artist who had a vision of adding something beautiful to the city. It was built as per Claude’s wishes. “Each unit is an individual, with its own courtyard and different views and a different floor plan and all are spatially rich. The top floors have amazing views of Auckland’s central city — they remind me of the main character in Atlas Shrugged, Dagny Taggart, who is inspired and empowered by the energy of the city.

"These days everybody is talking about sustainability and density. The unit I lived in had a site area of 215 square metres. These houses show how successfully Megson was grappling with these concepts back in the early 70s — good living isn’t about the size of plots, but about the quality of design.”

I love that pointer to Atlas Shrugged.

1A Warrington St, Remuera.

What looks to be an unfortunate recladding job mars what seems to be a typically playful spatial delight within.



From AllRealEstate's site come this description:

Situated amidst mature native trees and bush along a quiet right of way sits this immensely valuable architecturally designed home; which steps down the beautiful northern slopes of Remuera over three levels, and captures the most uplifting views imaginable!

The interior enjoys four lofts and voluminous entertaining areas all with polished floors (family, dining, formal living with fireplace, plus extra lounge), which flows out to big sun soaked decks, great for entertaining on any scale.

The multi level living and five fascinating bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, connect with dramatic spaces to create a relaxed ambience of excitement and character. An ideal home for a teenage family with more than enough room to spread out. A tranquil oasis in a north facing environment, enjoying privacy on a 1095 m2 more or less site.

Imagine waking to the sound of the Tui in this beautiful bush setting whilst being only a short drive from Downtown Auckland, Newmarket, Remuera shops and motorways are at your doorstep.

Double garaging, extra parking, Grammar Zoned.

Janet Lambert
Mobile: 0274 736 023
Megan Jaffe MREINZ
Ray White Remuera

Property Summary:

Category:

House

Bedrooms:

5

Bathrooms:

1

Garage:

Double

Land:

1095.00sqm (approx)

More pics. Click to enlarge.