Home is where the design is

By First Light – NZ Solar Decathlon, August 16, 2011 @ 4:55 pm

In their latest blog, the First Light team delve into some of the more bespoke pieces of furniture inside the house, crafted by some top-notch Kiwi designers.

After arriving by ship in the port of Philadelphia and then continuing its journey by truck, we’re relieved to say the Meridian First Light house has at last arrived safely in Washington DC. The containers and flat racks contain everything that goes into the house, from the modular house sections and the tools needed to put them together, right through to everything needed to fill the house and make it feel like a home.

In our last blog we talked about the unique built-in furniture designed by our team, but as it happens, the house also showcases a number of stand alone pieces from other up and coming New Zealand designers.

Nathan Goldsworthy from Conscious Design has kindly lent his eye-catching steel tables for use in the house. The tables are constructed with a series of 6mm steel wire triangles which are alternated and joined together. These triangles form a strong and stable table with a solid surface. What makes them more practical is that the spaces where the sides of the triangles intersect create space to store books or magazines. The tables come in two sizes, the larger of which is located in the living room, functioning as a coffee table. Two smaller versions serve as bedside tables.

Luke Mills, an industrial design graduate of Massey University, has designed and produced eight dining chairs for the house. Luke designed a similar chair as part of his graduate project at university (which is used in the study of our house) and developed the bespoke design of the dining chairs to meet the needs of the house. The transportable nature of the house led Luke to develop a chair which could fold flat for easy packing. The attractive and comfortable chairs are made from solid Silver Beech with brass fittings and red twine detailing.

Another item designed specifically for the house is the large light hanging in the central section of the house below the skylight. David Hakaraia, who graduated with a Master of Design from Victoria University last year, designed and custom made the light, which hangs over the large concrete table in the heart of the home providing a further focus on this central area of the house.

The complex, eye catching light has a plywood frame, laser-etched American Oak veneer, PETA plastic sheet, stainless steel and laser-etched bone detailing with waxed twine lashings at the ends. The folks at Switch Lighting supplied and installed the LED downlights and strip lighting inside.

We wanted to fill the house with pieces that would reflect the level of craftsmanship and design that went into the design and construction of the house. We’re super excited to be taking new and innovative New Zealand designs with us the US.

Follow the First Light journey so far

It’s what’s on the inside that (also) counts

First Light house gets hammered (under auction)

First Light house floats in the middle of the ocean

When everything falls apart, you put it back together

Visitors swarm through First Light house as team gears up for US journey

Speed is of the essence as First Light house makes its Wellington debut

Construction ‘n’ Technology

Walls, floors, roofs and insulation: Solar bach build kicks off

We want woolly walls

A journey of miniature proportions

Take a 3D tour through First Light’s solar bach