Maraetai Beach house takes a turn for the better

By WAYNE THOMPSON

Don Dunick's house at Maraetai Beach revolves around his wishes.

At his command, the house turns so that its penthouse bar looks out over either sea or bush, or so the barbecue deck is out of the wind.

Weather sensors automatically rotate the house to make the most of the sun's warmth or a cool breeze to keep a constant indoor temperature.

Dubbed "the lighthouse" by Mr Dunick, the circular house is like a glassed-in merry-go-round.

It effortlessly and quietly rotates through 360 degrees on a crane bearing mounted on a pedestal.

Interest in the steel-framed house was so keen, said Mr Dunick, a crane maintenance engineer, that he had started a business to produce kitset versions for local and North American markets.

The house was proving so comfortable and convenient that he would be reluctant to go back to a conventional home.

But it took nearly 18 years of his spare time for the germ of an idea to reach completion.

The toughest problem was how to put service pipes and cables into a house that turns through 360 degrees without pipes and wires being tied in knots.

Five years went into overcoming the problem. While he will not disclose details, Mr Dunick said he was taking out a patent on the solution, which also could be a boon for rotary cowsheds.

The 112sq m house has three bedrooms on the first floor. The penthouse floor has a big semi-circular bar that opens on to a barbecue deck.

The house cost about $450,000 because of its experimental nature. Mr Dunick said kitset versions could be about $300,000.

An electric motor turns the house at the command of a manual switch, or automatically at the prompt of a programmable logic controller.

The controls are preset to give the desired views or to turn a room away from the sun to achieve consistent warmth.

Sensors detect an approaching storm and turn the part with open doors towards shelter.

"The other night I saw a storm coming up the valley and I turned the bedrooms away from it so as not to be disturbed by the noise," said Mr Dunick.

The house was burglar-proof because its powered sliding doors could not be forced open, he said, and open doors could be programmed to close when anyone approached.

Glass walls were kept free of dust by water jets programmed for washes.

The design offered an alternative to the usual method of designing a house to make the most of a site. Its minimal foundations meant less site disturbance on steep or bush-covered properties.

A floating concrete pad anchors the 2m-diameter pedestal, from which sprout the steel universal beams to support the house. The house can turn a full circle in 15 minutes but a lower speed can be selected when people are inside.

LightHouse