Designed by award-winning architect Ken Crosson, a new residential development aims to re-imagine the New Zealand coastal community on Auckland’s Mahurangi Peninsula.
The northern end of Snells Beach will be home to Boathouse Bay, a unique development offering residents the quintessential Kiwi bach lifestyle, but with premium design and luxury finishes, set amongst landscaped sand dunes and native plantings.
The 33 beach cottages will be a mix of single and multi-level buildings, all with sea views and access to a community park and prime coastal amenities. While the buildings are diverse, there’s an architectural cohesion reminiscent of the small seaside villages of Europe, an aspect further highlighted in the landscape design by Boffa Miskell.
“The idea was to bring dune planting into the front of the development and the green bushy hillside planting into the back of it,” says renowned landscape architect Rachel de Lambert.
The greater Snells Beach area further benefits from the development through a rejuvenation of the coast with restored native planting, re-establishment of sand dunes, and creation of a new public walkway that the whole community can enjoy. Hundreds of native shrubs, grasses and trees, including transplanted Pohutukawa will replace over-mature pine trees in what will become the coastal reserve.
Crosson says Boathouse Bay will challenge the way Kiwis think about coastal living. “Rather than carving the site into a few large sections featuring palatial mansions accessible only to the super-elite, we decided to create a purposeful development that, whilst still of the highest quality, allows a greater number of New Zealanders to live more affordably on their coastline.”
Although contemporary, the homes have a sense of historical reference that is rooted in the design as well as the building materials chosen.
“The inspiration was the boat sheds that we see on our coastal margins, like Oriental Parade and Hobson Bay, and also those original bach communities with modest houses.
“It’s a contemporary take on the traditional New Zealand bach. It’s examining the essence of what bach-living is. We looked at what you actually need in an environment like this. And of course it’s always down to quality not quantity.
“The cladding is a reference to corrugated iron, but we’ve re-looked at it and used a modern take on it. We’ve also got this highlight of translucent doors to all the boat sheds so there’s activity and life behind them. And then there’s some timber too, that other classic New Zealand building material.”
Builders Bayside Designer Homes have been appointed and earthworks are now underway.
Prices range from $775,000 to $1.6 million. For more information head to
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