Revelation I

A Port Hills home carved from a simple plastered form

AO Architecture designed Revelation I as a restrained rectangular form on a hillside site in Christchurch’s Port Hills. Much of the exterior is wrapped in a consistent plaster finish, including the garage door, allowing the house to read as one simple volume. That mass is then altered in a few deliberate places – recessed at the entry, punctured by selected openings, and projected outward at the main living room.

A front elevation with very little noise

The street-facing side is intentionally controlled.

The garage door is finished in the same plaster language as the surrounding wall, allowing it to sit almost flush with the façade. Openings are limited, so the house reads more as a single solid object than a collection of separate doors and windows.

Against that restraint, the entrance becomes much more noticeable.

An entry cut into the volume

The front door is set deep within the plastered form and lined in timber.

That warmer material change makes the recess feel inviting against the otherwise minimal exterior. You approach a dark slot in the façade, with the timber drawing you inward and creating a sense of something being held beyond the outer shell.

The entry works because the rest of the elevation stays so quiet.

Projecting towards the view

At the living room, the strategy reverses.

Instead of recessing into the main volume, the room projects forward from it and wraps itself in glazing. The view-facing edge opens towards the estuary, city and coastline, creating the most transparent part of the house.

That contrast gives the building its strongest moment: a controlled plastered box from most angles, then a glazed living space pushing beyond it where the outlook matters most.

Timber within the interior

Inside, timber continues as a series of substantial joinery elements through the kitchen, island, fireplace and shelving.

These pieces give the open living space weight and definition without adding more walls, while the glazing keeps the wider landscape present around them.