The main living areas of this compact holiday home near New Zealand's Kaipara Harbour are arranged perpendicular to a platform that provides space for three tents used to accommodate guests.

Yale School of Architecture professor Peggy Deamer often works in nearby Auckland and wanted to build herself a simple and affordable rural retreat that was easily reachable from the city.

When cycling around the Kaiwaka area one weekend she came across an ideal plot and decided to develop a design informed by the common practice of New Zealanders visiting and camping at the summer houses of their friends.

"I have very little disposable income so this [house] needed to be as modest as possible," explained Deamer.
"I could only afford a 'shed' with one bedroom, but wanted to make sure that friends and family could visit. The solution was to build a platform that could hold three tents that would be the guest bedrooms." The main part of the house features a straightforward mono-pitched form influenced by a prefab property that Deamer almost decided to buy and install on the site.

"In the end, I designed my own house," the architect told Dezeen, "but the efficiency and appropriate quality of the one I almost bought stayed with me; the core side being on the uphill, windy side, with the open side facing the view."
The building's layout accommodates a dining area, living room and bedroom arranged in a row, with bathrooms, kitchen and storage aligne...