Photography: Simon Devitt
About Studio
Matter Architects is recognized for its work in architecture, urban planning, art, design, and strategic thinking. We pride ourselves on our ethical, honest, and transparent approach to all projects. We love what we do and have a profound commitment to our clients and finding innovative design solutions. We achieve these solutions through a working methodology of collaboration and disruption.
The integrity of ideas along with the process and effective communication ensure that any investment made throughout the project is done so in a well-planned and mutually agreed manner, making certain that our clients and all affected parties realize the most value from our product.
















Client objectives were to create a functional family home with privacy, garaging& pool. We challenged the status quo and gave new life to this heritage building – connecting it to its site and community. A garaging provision in the traditional sense was impossible – requiring the controversial decision to install a drive-in garage and car stacker in what was originally the front left bedroom.
Carving out portions of the villa, adding masonry wall structures, and retaining facilitated the car stacker installation. Giving way to the garage door, the original villa facade has been maintained in a seamless manner by retaining the weatherboards and joinery and integrating a hinged door for vehicle access.
While maintaining the character and streetscape presence of this home, we created a multi-level sculptural extension to the North. Old brick retaining walls pepper potted throughout the neighborhood (and on-site) was referenced. Brick walls, cranked at points, connect the new with the old tectonically and referentially.
The cranks break up these large planes, falling in and away, around the spaces created. Along with a masonry vertical element the brick walls provide North-South structures for the second story to bridge across, creating an illusion of weightlessness. An aged pohutukawa tree on site provided inspiration; a cedar slat screen of differing widths, randomly interspersed over the shades beneath, references the layering effect of pohutukawa bark.
A no-maintenance cladding system in dark shades of grey and glass louvered joinery has created an ever-changing depth and shadowing effect over this area. Post-construction the villa looks untouched from the front, contributing to the strong aesthetic and heritage of Ponsonby homes.