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The name that we chose for the house is “First Light”. This came out of New Zealand
being the first country in the world to see the light each day, so as they sun rises in
the morning, New Zealand is the first country to capture that, which is quite a fitting
name for a solar-powered house.
The most unique part of our design is the design itself, the concept. It’s about a
Kiwi lifestyle, bringing in the outdoors, the surrounding landscape into the house and
into the design. So we use a lot of passive strategies. We have a skylight in the central
space which brings a lot of light and warmth into the house, and really well-insulating
the house as well to maintain that temperature.
Another area where we developed a way of conserving energy was developing our hydronic drying
cupboard using only the hot water generated from the sun in order to dry clothes, so instead
of using a traditional dryer, we’ve got a drying cupboard which only uses a small
percentage of the power that a traditional dryer uses.
We wanted to design a house that was uniquely New Zealand, that really represented what
it meant to live in New Zealand and live with the Kiwi lifestyle, and this was a focus on
the entertaining and dining area, so a real focus on that heart of the house where we
can entertain guests and make it as the center of all of the functions within the home – designing
a home that felt like a home.
It’s been two-and-a-half years in the making for us, and to be here on the Mall setting
this house up is just a dream come true. The whole team’s put in a mess of effort over
the last seven days and to see it come together like this is just unbelievable.
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