Alex Lordahl

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The Golden Knight (detail of Beethoven Frieze)

Tent House in Waiheke Island

Having won New Zealand’s Best Spatial Design award for Residential Interiors, Chris Tate’s Tent House is a masterpiece of monochrome built with sharp lines and interesting angles. Sleeping below a tent on Waiheke Island, Chris envisioned a home with a similar triangular architectural form - simple, beautiful and playful. This idea sparked a project to build a collapsed tent house frame, and after two years of hard work, Tent House was completed.

Since the inspiration was a triangular form, this posed several engineering and architectural issues, particularly on safety as the walls were not in conventional 90-degree angles. Chris tried around 30 different options during the 2D-drawing stage to ensure the home would work structurally and functionally. “It came down to which shape looks best and what angles worked best on the site to maximize the shape. It was purely visual, followed by dissecting the design into cross-sections so the descending height walls would all fit in seamlessly and be safe for walking up to, despite the slope,” said Chris.

Rouen Cathedral, West Facade, Sunlight 1894

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