Outdoor living at the coast depends on having somewhere sheltered to enjoy it. Seaside Escape takes that requirement as its organising idea, bringing a substantial permanent home around a protected courtyard at Waikanae Beach.

The owners were referred to Modal Architecture by Richard. They wanted a forever home with generous entertaining spaces and a relaxed pattern of daily life. The ambition was informal, but the architectural task required a precise relationship between privacy, shelter, daylight and coastal exposure.

The home places outdoor living at its centre. Masonry establishes a protective edge, giving the home privacy and shelter while supporting a more open relationship with the courtyard. This makes the enclosure purposeful: its solidity helps create the conditions for the outdoor life the owners want.

Timber, glazing and covered connections bring a different character to that framework. They soften the material experience and draw movement towards the places for gathering and relaxing. The home opens progressively around these spaces, so its scale is experienced through their relationships rather than as a single large interior.

The courtyard is therefore more than an outlook. It is part of the daily pattern of living, connecting the entertaining brief to the coastal setting. Covered links support the relationship between spaces, while the surrounding masonry gives the outdoor area a measure of protection. Each element contributes to the same central purpose.

For the owners, the design brings entertaining and quiet daily use into the same protected setting. Rooms, covered connections and courtyard work together, making the permanent home’s relationship with the coast something they can inhabit as well as look towards.