There is no television in the upper living room at Windy Ridge. Tara wanted that part of her family home to be for conversation and people, with media activities accommodated separately. That choice gives the project a clear starting point.

Her online enquiry followed the purchase of an unused, poorly maintained property in Glenfield. The ambition was a bespoke family home, with an oversized garage and walls for artwork alongside its different living spaces. Established greenery offered the setting, while the site’s shape and terrain required attention to how the building would be reached.

Modal Architecture developed a single 240 m² home with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and two living areas. Separating the social upper floor from media spaces supports the brief directly. The arrangement gives the household different places for different activities, with the main conversation space keeping people at its centre.

The relationship between driveway levels and garage clearances was another defining part of the work. Resolving that access was necessary to accommodate the generous garage in the terrain. Compliance around a proposed spa also formed part of the design constraints, alongside the site’s shape.

Dark vertical Metalcraft Espan and timber establish the exterior palette among the existing greenery. Within, lighter interiors support a treetop feeling, bringing a different character to the elevated living spaces. The contrast is part of the experience of the home, with the surroundings present in how the interior is conceived.

Feasibility work and quantity surveyor verification supported decisions through design and delivery. Windy Ridge was Modal Architecture’s first Auckland new build, but its architectural purpose remains specific to Tara. The home organises family life around conversation, separate media use and artwork, with a living room whose most important feature may be what she chose to leave out.