Our approach to the proposal’s design is to create a sustainable, contemporary rural residence that responds to its coastal location by mitigating future flood risks and respecting the scale of the existing structures on the site. The home is a replacement dwelling for an existing cottage within a high flood-risk zone. The single-storey house is elevated on pilotis, hovering 1 metre above the flood level. Any water would pass below the dwelling if any flooding were to occur. The residence is orientated north-south to take advantage of the views and create a terrace and swimming pool area that enjoys sunshine throughout the day. The terrace areas step down from the dwelling into the grounds - a landscape planted with native trees and wildflowers. The green roof is planted with sedum to increase biodiversity on the site and assist with rainwater retention and harvesting. The lightweight superstructure is constructed of cross-laminated timber (CLT). The material consists of planks (or lamellas) of sawn, glued, and layered wood, where each layer is oriented perpendicular to the previous. By joining layers of wood at perpendicular angles, we achieve structural rigidity for the panel in both directions, similar to plywood but with thicker components. In this way, the panel has excellent tensile and compressive strength. It’s a sustainable material composed only of wood, a renewable resource (usually from reforestation), and doesn’t require burning fossil fuels during its production.