Mirror House (15 Kitchener Road)

Designed in 1984 by Swan Railley Paterson, the large house with mirrored glass is a remarkable example of late Modernist architecture that parodies buildings of the 1980s while making clever references to its environment. With its hull-like curves, stainless steel railings, flagpole, and chimneys that resemble funnels, it suggests a giant cruise liner. The way it towers over and dwarfs the neighbouring cottage, as a cruise ship would a tugboat, gives the impression of majesty.

The most notable feature of the house is the mirror cladding, which is striking both to the eye and the sun. With marvellous views of the beach and Rangitoto Island, the house is in fact quite insular, as if hiding behind sunglasses, so that passers-by have no idea what is going on behind the façade.

Continue walking along the pathway.