Designed for one of the few remaining undeveloped sites in a central city suburb, this home makes the most of its north facing aspect.

Jonathan Hawksworth, of Black Box Architects, placed Metro Series sliding doors around a sun-filled courtyard. These are recessed at the sill to minimise a change of floor levels from interior to exterior.

A transformation is experienced as you move through the solid dark cedar wall of the home’s south façade and main entrance into more open, north facing living spaces. Inside the front door a bright new world opens up – wide views to courtyard, shrubbery, sumptuous outside sofas and a tapered plunge pool.

Black FROST ULTRA anodising is used as the surface finish for windows and doors. The FROST ULTRA finish is standard from First and has a glowing matt sheen that provides a uniform, non-reflective finish. In this house the matt finish worked perfectly with the cedar and board cladding.

One eye-catching feature of the Hawksworth design is a glowing two-storey box, linking upstairs and downstairs. The engineering demands of the stairwell, which stands outside the building envelope, required a bespoke solution – a three-sided window system from the First Seismic 40mm suite tied to the steel frame. The window profiles are in silver FROST ULTRA anodised finish.