The Cass Bay window; the ultimate melding of design, engineering and craftsmanship.
Originally from Bishopdale in Christchurch, Aaron and Christine Greene had long harboured a desire to build an architecturally-designed home beside the ocean, and when Aaron sold his software business in 2018, the time seemed right to make the dream a reality. Around this time, the couple drove past a dilapidated house in Cass Bay just a stone’s throw from the beach, and the decision was made to purchase the section, demolish the existing house, and begin the process of conceptualising their dream home.
Aaron and Christine chose Michael O’Sullivan from BOS Architecture for the build, gave him carte blanche to design pretty much whatever he wanted (the brief that every architect dreams of), and the Copper House was born.
The Green’s builder, Clive Barrington of Clive Barrington Construction, recommended the team at Sydenham Bespoke Joinery for this enormous and difficult project because he had worked with us before and appreciated our reliability and commitment to quality.
In Aaron’s words, “There was so much collaboration needed. It was the kind of project that if an issue came up, someone from Sydenham could be here in ten minutes. If Clive wanted the subcontractors here to help solve a problem then they would be here, no questions asked.” The fact that the house was scheduled to appear on the popular TV program Grand Designs also helped to lend a sense of urgency to the build, and everyone involved was determined to have it finished in time for filming.
Originally intended to be clad in Cedar, the structure’s copper cladding is designed to last for over a hundred years, and will eventually take on a stunning blue-green patina, a process that will happen relatively rapidly due to its proximity to the ocean.
Every piece of joinery in the Cass Bay House is custom-built and cut to fit. From the spectacular curved sliding doors that open out to the upper lawn, to the cantilevered front door, curved desk, and the built-in timber bar nestled snugly inside the home theatre, the detailing is something that can only have been achieved by a group of dedicated master craftsmen.
The piece de resistance, which saw Sydenham Bespoke Joinery win gold for Best Window/Door at the NZ Master Joiners Awards in 2021, is the double-height curved window (pictured), that shelters the internal staircase.
On receiving the brief for the window, the likes of which had never been done before, Richard got straight to work with his CAD programme and created a 2D drawing based on the measurements of the site. Once the drawings were approved, he created a 3D model and then the physical work began.
As any joiner will tell you, a good percentage of their work is basic problem-solving, and the window certainly threw up its fair share of problems! Although it’s hard to tell from the ground, due to the angle of the roofline the entire window is vertically angled from the top, which meant that the mullions on each corner of the structure had to be cut to different sizes.
The structure is interspersed with beautiful hardwood shutters that can be opened to increase airflow into the house, and surprisingly, the glass itself is actually straight and gives the appearance of being curved solely through the design of the window.
Quite apart from the complexity of the design, the window also had to support the roof, so every mullion was reinforced with steel braces on top and bottom, which were constructed to slot into a premade frame during installation. The entire project required extraordinary amounts of precision engineering, and as Richard says, “It was a one-shot job”. Get it wrong and all owners Aaron and Christine would have been left with was a very large and expensive garden ornament.
The entire structure was built inside the factory, and every able-bodied person on the premises was required to help manhandle it onto the back of the truck before it began its journey through the Lyttleton tunnel to Cass Bay.
Due to its substantial weight, Richard and the team made sure to wrap packing around the parts of the window where the straps attached, in order to prevent the cedar from bruising. Watching the crane lifting his one-of-a-kind project off the truck bed and over the top of the house sent Richard’s anxiety levels through the roof, but the transfer was a success, and the window slotted into position perfectly.
We think it looks fantastic, and the NZ Master Joiner’s Association clearly thought so too, with the window bringing home gold in the 2021 national awards. For us, the Copper House window at Cass Bay represents the ultimate melding of design, engineering, and craftsmanship, and we were really proud to be entrusted with making something so incredibly complex and one of a kind.
Looking for bespoke custom joiners to be part of your next project? Call Sydenham Bespoke Joinery today on 03 3796840. If you can dream it we can build it.