Kingsbury
Glasshouse
Project

AS SEEN ON GRAND DESIGNS NEW ZEALAND

TOUR THE HOUSE

COME SPEND A NIGHT OR TWO!

Tessa Kingsbury

Architect • Gardener • Sheep Enthusiast

The Kingsbury Glasshouse Project

The History

The Sunday school hall was built in 1950 behind the St Michael’s and All Angels Anglican church in Andersons Bay, Dunedin. While commonly referred to as a Nissen Hut, this building is actually the next evolution of the Nissen Hut called a ‘Quonset hut’.

In 1975 a large lean-too structure was added to the north-west face of the building to accommodate a large kitchen, male and female toilets and a new entrance foyer near the stage end of the hall.

The hall was originally built to accommodate the 130 children that were part of the expanding congregation and was used as a Sunday school, a theatre, a dance hall, indoor bowls, markets and other church and community events.

The Dreamer

Tessa Kingsbury is the owner, Architect and visionary. Tessa was born in 1971 in Fairlie and has moved extensively during her childhood, adolescence, and adult life. She studied architecture at the University of Queensland and later specialised in hospital design which remains both a passion and a challenge.

Tessa returned to New Zealand in 2017 and settled in Dunedin at the end of 2020 following 2 years in Auckland and a year in Christchurch. Almost immediately, Tessa embarked on her search for the perfect property to retire her suitcases and find a home for her collection of treasures.

She loves to garden with reckless abandon, hike without a compass, wander without a destination, dream like no one is watching, laugh like there’s no tomorrow…. and most of all… she loves to simply ‘make’.

The Beginnings

Tessa purchased the hall and 500sqm of land in May 2021 when the maintenance became too much for the church and the demand for use was reduced. Within a year Tessa had the plans and building approval in place and had cleared the trees from the building perimeter to both ‘dry her out’ and to provide clear access for the demolition and construction work.

The Concept

Tessa dreamed of building a glasshouse that would include a forever home that was inspired by the experiences of her childhood and international travel. Using the building’s 1.8m grid, the existing building was portioned into 3 main sections. The main residence at the southern end, a central glasshouse, and guest accommodation at the northern end. The existing basement was retained to provide a large store and workshop area while functioning as a ‘cool air well’.

By opening up the middle section and replacing the curved roof with facetted glass panels, Tessa is able to use the buildings orientation to ‘scoop’ delicious sunlight into the stage end – her residence.

The Residence

The residence occupies the existing stage at the southern end of the building and extends the foot print by using the recycled Rimu flooring which was carefully lifted from the middle section. The residence is 45sqm and includes a kitchen, lounge, bedroom, ensuite and robe. Elements of the glasshouse are pulled through to the southern wall with glazed walls, internal windows and high level glass panels making up most of the internal walls.

The Glasshouse

The glasshouse boldly takes up the lion’s share of the building footprint at 75sqm and includes the deck areas of both the residence and guest accommodation, a lushy lawn and quite a few garden beds. New concrete foundation walls retain the 22 truckloads of dirt brought in from nearby farmland – raising the ground level and providing excellent quality soil for the trees and plants. The Glasshouse includes a fixed vent at the top and glass louvres on both sides for ventilation and benefits from the ‘cool air well’ of the basement over the warmer months.

The current planting includes a mix of native and fruiting trees with vegetables and ferns making up the lower-level areas. It is intended that the glasshouse layout and planting will morph over time as the trees become established, more shade is achieved and in parallel with changing seasons.

The Studio

The Studio is the guest accommodation at the northern end of the building and includes the original hall entrance of 12m2, a ground level of 25m2 including living area, kitchen, dining and bathroom plus a mezzanine bedroom loft of 10m2. The ground level floors were hand sanded to retain the history – preserving the stiletto marks in front of the new fireplace along with many other features.

Buddy

A 2 day old, broken little lamb, arrived on Tessa’s doorstep in September 2022. He was weak, battered and bruised and wasn’t likely to survive. On the 3^rd day he rallied and hasn’t looked back. Buddy was a constant companion throughout the project and now resides on the property getting into all kinds of mischief.

Rex

The big, old, English Oak tree stands proudly at the front of the site and while it’s not clear how old he is, he has certainly earnt his collection of rings. Some locals say he might have been planted when the hall was built while others say he’s much older. Either way, he’s a handsome and cherished old fellow who has earnt the name Rex as he wrecks the sunlight, wrecks the view, wrecks the pathway, wrecks some plans, wrecks the lawn and once a year he throws his gorgeous coat off and wrecks whole weekends.