84 | Meeting challenges with Italian flair A build currently underway in Kumara on the West Coast of the South Island brought a different set of challenges. MC Architecture Studio T T Virginia Wrightr ARCHITECTURE With his father an architect before him, it was an easy decision for Max Capocaccia to follow in his footsteps, qualifying as an architect in Rome and going on to complete his Masters Degree, which included a proposal for social housing in the south west of India. Having set up his own company in Italy in 2004, when Max first arrived in Christchurch in 2007 he chose instead to work for Athfield Architects before again setting up his own company, MC Architecture, two years later. Their work designing small commercial fitouts and house renovations soon expanded to include high-end new builds, a medical centre and larger commercial projects, and over the last 16 years M C Architecture has been involved in a wide range of projects not only in Christchurch, but all over the country from Auckland to Queenstown. MC Architecture has a history of large commercial jobs in Wellington, perhaps due to the necessary earthquake strengthening, which is a common denominator. Being based in Christchurch means Max had plenty of hands-on experience with this aspect of design, which he successfully applied in turning two adjacent heritage listed buildings in Cuba Street, a category 1 and a category 2, into an office block with a restaurant and retail premises on the ground floor. Challenges such as having to remove the anachronistic fire exits and make the buildings safe while staying within the heritage detail of the early 20th century were all part of the job. That successful outcome led to another complicated job from the same client, who had purchased a dilapidated, four-storey residential building in Eva St that had been student flats. The first thing we had to do was strip it back to what it had been, and make it safe to the current earthquake regulations for Wellington’s CBD, then we could start building,” says Max. The resulting boutique hotel, named The Cobbler, has a restaurant on the ground floor and 13 guest rooms, each offering a design where inspiration from the past is joined with the best of modern boutique hotel comfort. A build currently underway in Kumara on the West Coast of the South Island brought a different set of challenges, which Max has enjoyed resolving. It’s called Sanctuary House, as that’s what the clients envisioned when they bought their 4000sqm section in a cul de sac subdivision where one of the covenants means none of the houses can be seen from the street. When Max suggested they future-proof the house against the eventual rupturing of the Alpine Fault, the clients agreed, and the resulting 250sqm house is designed for ease of living off- grid for as long as might be needed: 30sqm of solar panels complete with battery back-up, 58,000 litres of water storage with filters and pumps should the town supply fail, and a self-sustaining sewage system using a worm farm, are all ready should the need arise. But it’s the idea of designing the house to merge into the surrounding forest that Max enjoyed the most. “From the house, the only thing you can see is the beautiful native trees, and wherever you are in the house you can appreciate the forest outside,” he says. Corridors ending in windows, a covered area designed to make you feel like you are part of the forest, and Max’s favourite, the sunken lounge two steps down from the kitchen “where you really feel like you are going into nature”, are all features of the design. Whether it’s a $200,000 renovation, a commercial revamp of a heritage building, or a high-end off-the-grid new home, MC Architecture has the skills and imagination to create a design that will suit the client as well as their budget. No matter how you look at it there’s no mistaking a Clive Barrington house. +64 3 343 2010 | info@clivebarrington.com clivebarrington.com
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