Buck House is an important example of Modern Movement architecture in New Zealand. The house represents the culmination of a body of work of Ian Athfield, one of New Zealand's most important twentieth century architects. Athfield has established a reputation for work that is noted for its inventiveness and considered reference to both national and international canons of twentieth century architecture. Buck House is a bold departure from traditional colonial housing in New Zealand. Its broken, asymmetrical forms, which call on traditional forms of gables, verandahs and chimneys, present a radical interpretation of the standard language of New Zealand farmhouses. The experimental use of draped and plastered mesh is an important feature of much of Athfield's domestic work, and this building is an important example of this expressive technique. Its sculpted white forms, restrained palette of materials and details and considered relationship between form and function align the building with international modernist ideals, while its references to a local vernacular of pioneering simplicity and human scaled proportions align it with New Zealand modernist concerns. The building's association with an important New Zealand vineyard, namely Te Mata Estate Winery Ltd, has increased the reputation of the house. Buck House is now linked with the vineyard's image and has featured on numerous advertisements for, and in publications about the vineyard, playing an important role in its growth. Buck House is recognised in international literature as an outstanding example of twentieth century architecture in New Zealand. The building has been widely documented, and features in publications such as Architectural Digest (Jan 1987), and Hauser (May 1987). It has been identified by DocomomoNZ as one of nineteen buildings to represent the Modern Movement in New Zealand.
Location
List Entry Information
Overview
Detailed List Entry
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
7628
Date Entered
9th September 2005
Date of Effect
9th September 2005
City/District Council
Hastings District
Region
Hawke's Bay Region
Extent of List Entry
Registration includes the building, fittings and fixtures, the land on which the building is placed, as shown on the certificate of title HBJ2/670, and curtilage as indicated in the appended Extent of Registration Map [see Registration Report].
Legal description
Lot 1 DP 16474 (RT HBJ2/670), Hawkes Bay Land District
Location Description
Located near the junction between Te Mata Rd and Waimarama Rd.
Status
Listed
List Entry Status
Historic Place Category 1
Access
Private/No Public Access
List Number
7628
Date Entered
9th September 2005
Date of Effect
9th September 2005
City/District Council
Hastings District
Region
Hawke's Bay Region
Extent of List Entry
Registration includes the building, fittings and fixtures, the land on which the building is placed, as shown on the certificate of title HBJ2/670, and curtilage as indicated in the appended Extent of Registration Map [see Registration Report].
Legal description
Lot 1 DP 16474 (RT HBJ2/670), Hawkes Bay Land District
Location Description
Located near the junction between Te Mata Rd and Waimarama Rd.
Cultural Significance
Cultural Value Architectural theorists have argued that post World War II domestic architecture in New Zealand has grappled with issues of the origins and essence of New Zealand architecture, while addressing a new internationalism. Buck House simultaneously explores the idioms of New Zealand pioneer domestic architecture (in its use of hips, gables, chimneys, exposed timber structure and intimate spaces, for example) and characteristics of international modernism (in its use of a restrained palette of materials and details, and simple sculpted geometric forms, for example). In this way it expresses the tensions of post World War II culture in New Zealand. The house has also achieved an important place in New Zealand culture. The building is broadly perceived as an important example of innovative architecture, and can be seen to represent the aspirational culture of the 1980s associated with the growth of the wine industry in New Zealand. It has appeared on the label of a landmark wine (Coleraine, Te Mata Estate) , and its iconic status in the New Zealand wine industry is documented in the British publication Wineries With Style.
Physical Significance
Aesthetic Value The building is located on a prominent site in the Hawkes Bay, and is considered to be of outstanding aesthetic merit. The exterior form of the building is a composition of sculpted, fluid forms that articulate the designated functional spaces of the interior. The broken form serves to accentuate the domestic scale of the building, as well as evoking the broken ridgeline of the range that serves as a backdrop. The gentle curves of the draped mesh and plaster forms respond to the gentle curves of the lines of grape vines in the surrounding landscape. The simplicity of each element, with its restrained use of fenestration, materials and colour, draws on the aesthetic language of modernism. Architectural Value The building holds an important place in New Zealand architectural history and is a key work of Ian Athfield. Ian Athfield is acclaimed as one of New Zealand's most important architects. He was the recipient of an NZIA gold medal in 2004, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to architecture in New Zealand. Buck house is widely acknowledged as one of his most important works, discussion about the design has been published in numerous architectural journals and surveys of New Zealand architecture. It was identified as one of nineteen places representing Modern Movement architecture by the founding members of DocomomoNZ, and subsequently published in a major international survey of Modern Movement architecture. The building is acknowledged as an innovative composition that draws on a number of traditional architectural idioms. These include: a New Zealand vernacular (characterised by hips, gables, chimneys and a functional scale, for example), Spanish Mission style (characterised by expressed structure, use of courtyards and verandahs and fluid plastered forms) and Modern Movement architecture (characterised by rigorously functional planning, sculpted white forms, and a restrained palette of materials and details). These traditional references are eloquently arranged to respond strongly to the client brief, local materials, the geographic context (notably the ranges that serve as a backdrop to the house, and the vineyard), and the cultural context (the house is one among many vineyard and estate houses in the Havelock North area). The result is innovative, yet evokes familiar themes of New Zealand domestic architecture. Technological Value The building makes use of innovative construction materials and techniques, namely plastered, draped mesh. This is a typical characteristic of Ian Athfield's domestic work of this period, and it distinguishes his work from the more common timber framed domestic construction in New Zealand.
Detail Of Assessed Criteria
(a) The extent to which the place reflects important or representative aspects of New Zealand history The building represents an important trend in New Zealand architectural history, namely the development of the Modern Movement architecture. It was identified by the founding members of DocomomoNZ as one of nineteen places that represent Modern Movement architecture in this country. Since World War II the Modern Movement in New Zealand has addressed the dual concerns of finding an indigenous architectural identity and responding to an international quest to meet universal, fundamental human habitation needs in a purportedly scientific manner (International Style). Buck House is identified as the end of a line of inquiry concerned with establishing a particularly local architecture [..] in modern idiom. As the end of a line of enquiry, it holds an important place in New Zealand's architectural history. (b) The association of the place with events, persons, or ideas of importance in New Zealand history This building is an important exemplar of the work of Ian Athfield, and an important exemplar of Modernist architecture in New Zealand. Athfield is renowned for innovative and challenging work that has a strong focus on social issues. His practice has received more than 60 awards, and he has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by Victoria University of Wellington, and named an Alumni Fellow by Auckland University. He was awarded a gold medal by the NZIA in 2004, for his outstanding contribution to architecture in New Zealand. The building has been identified by DocomomoNZ as representing Modern Movement architecture in New Zealand. The building was commissioned by the Buck family who, with the Morris family, established Te Mata Estate Winery Ltd, in 1978. Te Mata Estate is credited with taking a leading role in the renaissance of the wine industry in New Zealand in the 1980s. The Buck's vision for the vineyard included the commissioning of this innovative building which is strongly associated with the image of the wine production company. The building is on the site of the Chambers family vineyard, also known as Te Mata, which was established in 1883. This was an early commercial vineyard in New Zealand (e) The community association with, or public esteem for, the place The building is widely regarded as an innovative architectural work. It has been documented by both the architectural community and the wine industry, and is considered to be a landmark by the local community. It has featured in publications such as The New Zealand House (Michael Fowler & Robert Van de Voort); New Zealand Architecture from Polynesian Beginnings to 1900 (Peter Shaw); Architectural Digest; Hauser; The World of Fine Wine and Wineries With Style (Peter Richards). (g) The technical accomplishment or value, or design of the place The building design has been identified as innovative and expressive by both New Zealand and international commentators. Its complex massing, responsiveness to client, climate and location, and innovative use of materials (such as the plastered mesh which is a distinctive feature of Ian Athfield's work of this period), mark this building out from other buildings in the area, and in New Zealand generally. (k) The extent to which the place forms part of a wider historical and cultural complex or historical and cultural landscape Founding members of DocomomoNZ put Buck House forward as one of nineteen Modern Movement places to best represent Modern Movement architecture in New Zealand. The resulting international publication documents the Modern Movement in architecture worldwide.
Construction Professional
Biography
No biography is currently available for this construction professional
Name
George Stanley & Sons
Type
Builder
Biography
No biography is currently available for this construction professional
Name
Sands, Keith
Type
Engineer
Biography
No biography is currently available for this construction professional
Name
Tinning, Allen
Type
Sculptor
Biography
Ian Athfield was born in Christchurch in 1940. He knew from a young age that he wanted to be an architect. After leaving school in 1958 he commenced a Diploma of Architecture, which entailed academic courses and an apprenticeship with Christchurch architectural practice Griffiths, Moffat & Partners. He also did summer work with Warren & Mahoney. Athfield finished his studies at the University of Auckland and it was there that he became interested in Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe of Germany and the Netherlands’ Aldo van Eyck, all of whose work and philosophies influenced his practice. Van Eyck’s ideas about the social value of housing and neighbourhoods, in particular the notion that a house was akin to village or city, with communal rather than individualist values prioritised, were particularly influential. Following his 1962 marriage to Clare Cookson and graduation the following year, Athfield briefly worked for Stephenson & Turner in Auckland before moving to Structon Group in Wellington. There he gained experience in designing high-rise buildings and knowledge of the latest building technologies. He was made a partner in 1965 but was sacked by senior partners in 1968 when he suggested a retirement policy as a way of making space for younger staff and fresh ideas. Undeterred, he founded Athfield Architects the next day, taking some of Structon’s clients with him.
Name
Athfield, Ian
Type
Architect
Construction Details
Start Year
1980
Type
Original Construction
Construction Materials
The house foundations are poured ferrous cement, supporting concrete block and timber framed walls. The roof is pinex boards on timber frame, and the whole building is clad with plaster on a draped substrate of expanded galvanised metal mesh, except where Nuralite roofing is used for the roof-walk. Internal linings are generally macrocarpa tongue and groove, or plastered blockwork, with timber fixtures, fittings and door and window joinery. The interior is distinguished by the use of materials, which draw on New Zealand traditions of domesticity (particularly the tongue and groove), but also evoke a more international language of rural farmhouses (eg the ceramic pavers and timber shutters and doors). Buck House is a good example of an environmentally aware house. The house is designed to make good use of passive solar heating and thermal mass, and is designed to make use of local materials such as macrocarpa, pumice and sand. The building has not been significantly modified since it was built in 1980.
Buck House was built to serve the Buck family as they endeavoured to re-establish quality wine production at the Te Mata Estate vineyard in the Hawke's Bay. The vineyard was first established in the 1880s by the Chambers family. In the 1970s Te Mata Estate Winery Ltd brought new ideas and expertise to the vineyard. It produced its first vintage in 1979. In 1980, wanting more involvement in vinyard production, the Buck family moved to Coleraine, which is a portion of the vineyard named after the Irish home of John Buck's forbears. Athfield Architects were engaged to design the building as the Buck family had formed a close relationship with the Athfields while living next door, in Wellington. The design process is reported to have been consultative and interactive. Ian Athfield also worked closely with Ian Dickson, the project architect. The building was completed, to international acclaim, in 1980. The Buck family continue to live in the house, and work the vineyard. Te Mata estate is regarded as one of New Zealand's outstanding wine properties, and Buck House has come to symbolise the renaissance of the estate. The building has an important place in the history of architecture in New Zealand. It has been acknowledged as the culmination of a body of work of one of New Zealand's most important twentieth Century architects. Ian Athfield was the 2004 recipient of the New Zealand Institute of Architects Gold Medal, the highest honour bestowed by the New Zealand Institute of architects for an outstanding contribution to the practice of architecture demonstrated through the production of a consistently high-quality body of work over a period of time. The medal citation goes on to identify important works: 'From public projects, such as Wellington's Public Library and Civic Square and the Nelson Polytechnic Library, to commercial buildings, such as the Hewlett-Packard Building and Telecom House, to private residences such as the Buck and Custance Houses, he has exhibited mastery on all the fronts on which New Zealand Architects operate'. Athfield is renowned for innovative and challenging work that has a strong focus on social issues. His practice has received more than 60 awards, and he has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Literature by Victoria University of Wellington, and named an Alumni Fellow by Auckland University. Buck House has not only been identified as an important exemplar of Athfield's work, but also an exemplary New Zealand Modernist work. It was selected by the founding members of DocomomoNZ as one of 19 places that best represent the Modern Movement in New Zealand. This group of academics and cultural commentators was led by Dr Julia Gatley and Dr Paul Walker, who considered that the building was the fruit of decades of exploration of modernity in New Zealand. Its subsequent publication in The Modern Movement In Architecture: Selections from the DOCOMOMO Register, ensured its international recognition as a key expression of New Zealand's Modern Movement. New Zealand exponents of modernist architecture pursued many lines of enquiry, including a search for a pioneering vernacular. Justine Clark and Paul Walker note that 'During the 40s and 50s the pioneer past was recuperated in the search for a modern New Zealand vernacular. History was not merely a general context: it was the very ground on which the new New Zealand architecture had been built'. Buck House develops this exploration in its human scaled forms that are reduced to a (putative) functional minimum. Elements like the expressed timber structure and considered massing of forms, are also reminiscent of the expression of the local developed by the Group architects and John Scott, for example. The DocomomoNZ editorial group suggest that: Sitting in rolling, vineyard country this fine house's picturesque composition of hips and gables, dormer windows, verandahs and high chimneys, is reminiscent of New Zealand's ad hoc colonial vernacular. As such it could be taken as the end of a line of enquiry concerned with establishing a particularly local architecture but in a modern idiom. This inquiry began in New Zealand domestic architecture in the 1940s. However, the references the design of the Buck House are not only to this. The white plaster with which it is covered has an altogether different quality. This has been hypothesized as referring to a particular tradition in the locality of large, white houses. But it is consistent with Athfield's penchant for multiple reference. In addition to drawing on the work of early New Zealand modernist architects the building also references more orthodox conventions of architectural modernity. The white sculpted forms, controlled fenestration and minimal detailing draw on traditions established by architects such as le Corbusier. While referring to the restrained and stark works of the Modern Movement, Athfield paradoxically calls on the romantic, organic language of Antonio Gaudi. The Spanish references hold further associations for Hawkes Bay residents, where the Spanish Mission style has been so popular in the twentieth century. The use of plaster, terracotta, exposed timber structure, articulated forms, and planning that addresses climatic conditions, draw on the architecture that has been so successfully translated from Spanish colonies in America to the climate and environment of the Hawkes Bay. Thus Buck House embodies ideals of the International Style, while also drawing on New Zealand modernist traditions, and local architectural ideals (ie the Spanish Mission style). As well as binding together a number of traditional idioms, the innovations of this ground breaking house have also been recognised. In German magazine Hauser, Karl Johantges suggests that Buck House makes a radical departure from the New Zealand penchant for the domestic shoebox, an archetypical detached, inexpressive box, among many identical suburban boxes. He suggests that the architecture of the building responds strongly and directly to the needs of the Buck family, and that the formal expression of the idiosyncratic pattern of inhabitation is a radical departure from the patterns in New Zealand architecture developed in Victorian and Edwardian times. Wendy Buck confirms that the design process involved many discussions about family processes and practices, and that she was surprised that her views about the house were taken so seriously. More than twenty years after the completion of the house, the Bucks consider that the house still meets their needs. Their children have left home, but return, and the house easily accommodates many permutations of family inhabitation. In Architectural Digest Athfield suggest that 'With houses, it's the relationship between people that comes first. You can't start with an idea of how people should act or what a house should look like'. Karl Johantges also points out the strong relationship of the house to the vineyards in which it sits. The strong linear geometries of the rows of vines which drape the landscape, are echoed in the draped and plastered fabric of the building. The building responds to the curvaceousness of the landscape, with the linearity of the chimneys breaking the strong linearity of the vines. The broken and soaring roofline also echoes the craggy peaks on the ridges that are such a distinctive geographic feature of Havelock North. Buck House has been recognised in international literature as an outstanding example of twentieth century New Zealand architecture, but also features prominently in local architectural surveys. Peter Shaw's survey of New Zealand architecture dedicates a paragraph to the house: Of the so-called 'architect-designed' houses, one of the most widely acclaimed is Ian Athfield's Buck House (1980). Once again Athfield's studied asymmetries and use of white plastered forms smoothed over dormers, gables and chimneys are evident. It is interesting to note that some other white houses, notably Anscombe's washpool (1935) in Spanish idiom, and Gummer's Arden (1926) and Tauroa (1916) are in the area yet Buck House remains an outlandish architectural object positioned quite naturally within the context of the gently sloping site. The house is further proof of this architect's combination of inventiveness and respect for tradition.' Its association with important New Zealand wines, and the owner's pivotal role in the 1980s growth of the wine industry in New Zealand, have also served to increase the profile of this building. The building is featured on the label of Te Mata's Coleraine Cabernet/Merlot, for example. Keith Stewart asserts: [Buck House] is a bold image of sophisticated elegance which has featured in television and magazine advertising and has attracted the attention of architecture and style magazines locally and in the United States and Europe. It has featured on the cover of a book on the New Zealand house, and as a much-used image of winegrowing culture in this country has become a strong motif for New Zealand wine. Buck House has been widely published, both nationally and internationally. It is one of the most recognisable houses in New Zealand, and represents an important movement in architecture.
Style The house was designed for the Buck family, comprised of Wendy, John and three sons. It draws on the architectural traditions of modernism, Spanish mission style, and a rural vernacular. The style of the house is celebrated for its innovativeness, with the articulated, domestic-scale forms responding strongly to the context of the vineyards, the ridge behind the house, the climate, the needs of the clients and local and national architectural concerns. The building was designed by Ian Athfield and Ian Dickson (project architect), who identify key design intentions as : ·articulated masses which express the internal workings of the building ·response to the geometries of the vineyard environment ·design to appreciate the climate and light of the Hawkes Bay The building is a complex composition of cube-like forms, hips, gables, verandahs, curved chimney forms, and semi-enclosed spaces, punctuated with simple fenestration. The complexity of the form of the building is contrasted with the simplicity of the materials and plain white colour. Layout and Key Spaces It is formed by two wings, which pivot about a central kitchen/family space, the wing to the east serving the children and utility functions, and the wing to the northwest serving the adults and auxiliary living areas. The house is made up of a ground floor containing a double garage, laundry and bathroom, conservatory, kitchen, family space, dining room, living room, bedroom and bathroom. The upper level contains 3 bedrooms, a play space, store, study and open air roof walk. Each space is limited to the smallest space within which its function can be achieved, with built in furniture specifically designed for any residual space (eg the bedroom wardrobe fits under the study stairs). The planning is precise and compact. Landscaped areas to the north and south of the house are also an integral aspect of the building design and functionality, and resist any suggestion that the house is a closed coherent box. These courtyard style gardens also reference the enclosed courtyards of the Spanish Mission tradition.
Completion Date
6th June 2005
Report Written By
Xanthe Howes
Information Sources
Clark, 2000
Justine Clark and Paul Walker, 'Looking for the Local: Architecture and the New Zealand Modern', Victoria University Press, Wellington, 2000
Architectural Digest
Architectural Digest
Sharp, 2000
Dennis Sharp and Catherine Cooke, The Modern Movement in Architecture: Selections from the DOCOMOMO Registers, Rotterdam, 2000, p.188
Stewart, 1997
K. Stewart, Te Mata, the First 100 Years, Godwit 1997
Report Written By
A fully referenced registration report and copies of the plans and specifications are available from the Central Region of the NZHPT. Please note that entry on the New Zealand Heritage List/Rarangi Korero identifies only the heritage values of the property concerned, and should not be construed as advice on the state of the property, or as a comment of its soundness or safety, including in regard to earthquake risk, safety in the event of fire, or insanitary conditions.
Current Usages
Uses: Accommodation
Specific Usage: House
Former Usages
General Usage:: Accommodation
Specific Usage: House
Themes
Modern Movement