The Great and Versatile Kiwi 'Sleepout'
The humble outbuilding finds a new life in these New Zealand homes, providing much-needed extra space for work, rest and play
Simon Farrell-Green
3 May 2016
New Zealand has a very long – and to my mind noble – history of outbuildings. There’s something in the national character that sees nothing wrong with adding a bit here and a bit there, and then turning that bit into this and that bit into that at the same time as adding a bit more on the side. Other countries do this too, but no one else gives it a name as grand yet practical as the ‘sleepout’.
We’re a country of adders-onners and we create houses that are like onions – with layers upon layers of buildings with different uses. Traditionally, sleepouts were contingent, thrown-together buildings, their sole function being to house as many people as possible. Today though, they’re something a little different.
We’re a country of adders-onners and we create houses that are like onions – with layers upon layers of buildings with different uses. Traditionally, sleepouts were contingent, thrown-together buildings, their sole function being to house as many people as possible. Today though, they’re something a little different.
Now, there are thousands of small buildings all over the country that have morphed and changed from shed or garage to sleepout, providing much-needed extra accommodation and living space. It’s most common at the bach, where garages get filled with bunks and surfboards, but it’s pretty common at home too.
More recently – driven partly by high land prices as families try to create extra space – this tradition has been reinvented by homeowners, who have converted or renovated sleepouts into things of beauty. And, in some wonderful cases, architects have taken the vernacular and created something entirely new.
More recently – driven partly by high land prices as families try to create extra space – this tradition has been reinvented by homeowners, who have converted or renovated sleepouts into things of beauty. And, in some wonderful cases, architects have taken the vernacular and created something entirely new.
School’s out
In Te Puke, architectural designers Maurice Regeer and Marije Hoornstra of MnM Design turned a rundown 1920s school house into a smart new home office for their practice. The exterior – with its original rimu weatherboards – was almost completely rotten or repaired with metal patches, so they stripped off the original cladding and replaced it with rough-sawn plywood. In all, the project cost $10,000 and took a few weeks over a summer holiday.
In Te Puke, architectural designers Maurice Regeer and Marije Hoornstra of MnM Design turned a rundown 1920s school house into a smart new home office for their practice. The exterior – with its original rimu weatherboards – was almost completely rotten or repaired with metal patches, so they stripped off the original cladding and replaced it with rough-sawn plywood. In all, the project cost $10,000 and took a few weeks over a summer holiday.
Inside, they pulled up the carpet and polished the hardwood floors, then painted the original rimu sarking a crisp white. They designed the pine-and-ply office furniture themselves, which Maurice built at the same time as the studio. Now, it makes a great little office for them – though with a new staff member, it’s getting a little small.
Barn life
On Waiheke Island, Charissa Snijders designed a compound of buildings on a farm, with a spectacular view over the Hauraki Gulf – including a 32-square-metre outbuilding known as ‘the barn’, which the family uses for creative projects.
It’s connected by a path to the main house, and is subtly marked out as a separate building with a different-coloured stain on the plywood cladding. All three buildings on the site have a slightly different stain, drawn from the colours of the stone used in the construction of the main house.
On Waiheke Island, Charissa Snijders designed a compound of buildings on a farm, with a spectacular view over the Hauraki Gulf – including a 32-square-metre outbuilding known as ‘the barn’, which the family uses for creative projects.
It’s connected by a path to the main house, and is subtly marked out as a separate building with a different-coloured stain on the plywood cladding. All three buildings on the site have a slightly different stain, drawn from the colours of the stone used in the construction of the main house.
Reached by a side door, the clients cross a gravel courtyard and climb a slight hill to the studio – it’s close enough to be convenient, but far enough away to be a separate space entirely. “It was very much part of their brief,” says Snijders. “It was their dream creative space – it’s a making place.”
Inside, the studio has a wood-burning stove to make it comfortable in winter – and for impromptu scone-baking sessions – as well as two sinks, one for the disposal of paint and print-making materials.
Inside, the studio has a wood-burning stove to make it comfortable in winter – and for impromptu scone-baking sessions – as well as two sinks, one for the disposal of paint and print-making materials.
Here’s that view. We can see ourselves being very creative indeed if we had that to look out on.
Upstairs downstairs
Also on Waiheke Island, architect Julian Guthrie designed a new beach house for a young family that references traditional New Zealand baches, where a sleepout was almost always a couple of steps away from the original house. In this case, you have to go out the back door and up or down half a level to reach the bedrooms.
Also on Waiheke Island, architect Julian Guthrie designed a new beach house for a young family that references traditional New Zealand baches, where a sleepout was almost always a couple of steps away from the original house. In this case, you have to go out the back door and up or down half a level to reach the bedrooms.
On the bottom level of the bedroom wing, there’s a bunk room built from plywood. “I put bunk rooms in every bach,” says Guthrie. “It’s such an efficient space; it’s a tiny room and it’s got four beds in it. And they’re for adults too – not necessarily for kids.”
Gently does it
In Wellington, Vorstermans Architects designed a small studio in the backyard of their clients’ house in Seatoun – a simple little pavilion built from cedar, with a cantilevered deck hovering over the back lawn, “to give the impression it is just floating and unsupported,” says Rob Vorsetermans. In time, the studio will weather to a soft silvery grey – a gentle addition to a suburban backyard.
In Wellington, Vorstermans Architects designed a small studio in the backyard of their clients’ house in Seatoun – a simple little pavilion built from cedar, with a cantilevered deck hovering over the back lawn, “to give the impression it is just floating and unsupported,” says Rob Vorsetermans. In time, the studio will weather to a soft silvery grey – a gentle addition to a suburban backyard.
The studio is a multi-functional space: used as a spare bedroom and bathroom for guests, it doubles as a summer house for the whole family, while the kids retreat to it at night to watch films and play foosball. It gives the family some much-needed breathing space, while still being only a storey away from the main house. The outdoor shower comes in handy to rinse off after an evening in the spa too.
Contemporary sleepout
Just outside Queenstown, Team Green Architects designed a sleepout to sit across a courtyard from an equally contemporary building they designed – with children and grandchildren coming back to the area from overseas, the owners wanted more room. The form takes the traditional simple box of the sleepout and refines it even further: it’s painted black on the outside and can be closed completely with sliding timber screens. Designing the building was tricky – the key was to make sure it connected to the main house, but also had privacy.
Just outside Queenstown, Team Green Architects designed a sleepout to sit across a courtyard from an equally contemporary building they designed – with children and grandchildren coming back to the area from overseas, the owners wanted more room. The form takes the traditional simple box of the sleepout and refines it even further: it’s painted black on the outside and can be closed completely with sliding timber screens. Designing the building was tricky – the key was to make sure it connected to the main house, but also had privacy.
Architect Mark Read’s solution was to place sliding screens across the facade of the building, providing privacy – there’s a bedroom and living room along with a bathroom facing onto a sunny lawn. The courtyard side, meanwhile, is a simple hallway clad in shiplap cedar.
Here’s a close-up of the cedar interior – a soft golden centre to the dark black box.
Bach-elor pad
Back on Waiheke Island, Box Living designed and built a small beach house for clients on a steep site with a spectacular view. There are many nods to the traditional New Zealand bach in the place – the interior is clad with hard-wearing plywood, and the spaces are small but highly functional. But one of its most delightful aspects is the wooden walkway that wends its way along the steep section to the sleepout.
Back on Waiheke Island, Box Living designed and built a small beach house for clients on a steep site with a spectacular view. There are many nods to the traditional New Zealand bach in the place – the interior is clad with hard-wearing plywood, and the spaces are small but highly functional. But one of its most delightful aspects is the wooden walkway that wends its way along the steep section to the sleepout.
“The clients wanted to provide a space for their guests where within their own four walls they would have a sense of independence and privacy,” says Box director and architect Tim Dorrington.
“The sleepout provides a private haven,” says Dorrington. The two houses are linked by a similar design language – they’re both glad in dark grey corrugated steel. Most importantly, the sleepout has its own deck – and the same incredible views as the main house.
TELL US
Do you have a sleepout and what do you use it for? Tell us in the Comments section.
MORE
Houzz Tour: A Bach on Waiheke Island With an Unusual Twist
Houzz Tour: Maori Proverb Inspires Waiheke Island Holiday Home
TELL US
Do you have a sleepout and what do you use it for? Tell us in the Comments section.
MORE
Houzz Tour: A Bach on Waiheke Island With an Unusual Twist
Houzz Tour: Maori Proverb Inspires Waiheke Island Holiday Home
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loved this article Simon. typical NZ'ers - such fantastic innovators!!! :D
check out our profile to see some similar buildings we;ve installed in Aussie backyards!
http://www.houzz.com.au/pro/greenspangroup-melwood/melwood-cabanas-and-garden-rooms
Nice to read about the kiwi sleep outs. Here in rural NSW (and most probably in other states too) a sleep out is a narrow veranda, enclosed or semi enclosed with a motley collection louver windows and fibro. Generally "The Boys Room". Accessed by walking through "The Girls Room" or Mum and Dad's bedroom. Freezing in winter, hot in summer.