X Marks by Spacecraft Architects Project Feature Wellington, New Zealand

Perching in the treetops and anchored to the hillside, X Marks sees Spacecraft Architects conquer a challenging site. Through a bold expression of form-making, an x shape provides shelter, privacy and access to views.

Located in Wellington, X Marks is home to a creative couple (an industrial designer and a musician), who were eagerly involved in the design process. Inherited site issues, such as tight one-metre access, an existing excavation and numerous other challenges that come with the territory of a sloping site, meant that the resulting design needed to embrace all these challenges to find cost-effective solutions. Above all, the final form is inspired by a desire to feel as if the building is set within the treetops, perched on the hillside to look out over its expansive view.

Built by Martin Goulden Builders Ltd, the house takes shape as a series of volumes that are placed atop one another, anchoring the form to the site, and providing moments of recluse, shelter and privacy between out-reaching elements.

Above all, the final form is inspired by a desire to feel as if the building is set within the treetops, perched on the hillside to look out over its expansive view.

Built by Martin Goulden Builders Ltd, the house takes shape as a series of volumes that are placed atop one another, anchoring the form to the site, and providing moments of recluse, shelter and privacy between out-reaching elements. A series of experiments were conducted by Spacecraft Architects to deduce the best approach, fulfilling the brief and enabling the process to proceed within its tight budget constraints. The result sees a series of in-situ concrete props fill the existing excavated zone, and the x shape is cast above, formed by a volume that sits 90 degrees from the lower level.

The final form is inspired by a desire to feel as if the building is set within the treetops, perched on the hillside to look out over its expansive view.

A combination of steel, concrete, glass and an expanse of timber all come together to speak to ideals of the natural, textural, durable and robust.

The overhang, together with the in-between spaces created, allows for openings and deep voids. The lower level houses the living spaces, of which all are oriented to capture the best solar gains, while also providing shelter from the prevailing north-westerly winds. The area is deliberately open to the view and the accidental verandas that are carved under the formwork above. On the upper levels, however, a feeling of retreat is created as the spaces become more enclosed, where sleeping areas are placed. The studio, also on the upper levels, is formed from an irregular remaining area, which offers acoustic properties preferable for sound recording.

A combination of steel, concrete, glass and an expanse of timber all come together to speak to ideals of the natural, textural, durable and robust.

The result sees a series of in-situ concrete props fill the existing excavated zone, and the x shape is cast above, formed by a volume that sits 90 degrees from the lower level.

A combination of steel, concrete, glass and an expanse of timber all come together to speak to ideals of the natural, textural, durable and robust. The steel elements were deliberately kept light as a means to be hand-assembled on site and affix to the other elements with as much ease as possible. Although a difficult and uncompromisingly angled site, Spacecraft (together with an impassioned client) have created a home sits lightly, opened to the elements and views, yet offering both privacy and retreat.