Incredible home in concrete

Canterbury designer Greg Young, of Young Architects won two top honours at the 2022 Regional ADNZ Resene Architectural Design Awards, celebrating the greatest architectural designs the region has to offer.

Described as “an incredible concrete family home”, Scarborough Béton Brut, perched on the on the hills overlooking Scarborough, won the Regional Award for Residential Interiors, and was Highly Commended for a Residential New Home over 300m2.

Concrete proved a necessity on the very steep, geotechnically challenging site, explains Greg.

“We chose to embrace it, keeping it naked and raw, expressing the variations in texture and colour inherent within its composition as well as a result of the construction methodology to place it.”

The end result is a multi-award-winning, spacious home that is efficient, permanent, and easy to live in, with a design that focuses on being a part
of its environment rather than dominating it.

Judges commented, “Timber shuttering, selected for its strong grain, has been expressed in the surface finish of the concrete walls, giving an aesthetic that is raw and natural, like the environment the building is situated in.

“The concrete in the floor is full of depth, coloured and polished to give a counterpoint. Considered planning has created a home where occupants can embrace the vastness of the view as well as retreat and take refuge,” they said.

Architectural builders

Scarborough Béton Brut was built by Hoogervorst Architectural Builders, a company that specialises in one-off architecturally-designed new homes, and also as high-spec renovations and extensions. Based in Christchurch, the family-owned firm has been building architecturally-designed homes throughout Canterbury for more than 25 years and has a strong reputation for its rigorous attention to detail.

“We take enormous pride in creating unique, stunning homes and making the architect and the client’s dream a reality,” says Nick Hoogervorst.