It could be said that the difference between an ordinary piece of art and a masterpiece is in the expression of light. If this is the case, the Timms Bach house is a masterpiece of the next level.

The home, located on the Great Barrier Island of New Zealand, utilizes right angles, straight lines of wood, and glass walls to filter natural light into a multi-layered, decadent warmth. The design tactic to pit with sunlight against exposed wood and sharp angles was an intentional choice by Herbst Architects. It serves not only to set the ambiance, but also to offer protection from the summer heat, and privacy from neighboring homes.

With stiff competition from the gorgeously executed expanses of wood, light manipulation is the dominant design quality at Timms Bach. From the outside, the natively-quarried rock wall and sun-bleached cladding reflect the harsh, salt-laden, seaside climate. Inside, wood walls stained in warm tones diffuse the light and provide respite from the heat the further you go into the house.

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Bach, derived from “bachelor” is the Kiwi word for a typical, modest beach house-while certainly not ostentatious, Timms Bach is anything but typical.

Photos by Jackie Meiring.

Weekend Cabin isn’t necessarily about the weekend, or cabins. It’s about the longing for a sense of place, for shelter set in a landscape…for something that speaks to refuge and distance from the everyday. Nostalgic and wistful, it’s about how people create structure in ways to consider the earth and sky and their place in them. It’s not concerned with ownership or real estate, but what people build to fulfill their dreams of escape. The very time-shortened notion of “weekend” reminds that it’s a temporary respite.