New Zealand's countryside is dotted with little timber shacks called "baches"—modest houses originally designed as bachelors' holiday retreats—that charmed architects Lance and Nicola Herbst the first time they visited.
Originally from South Africa, the couple has made a specialty of designing simple, rustic retreats since moving to New Zealand in 1998. On the country's North Island, a Herbst Architects pavilion and swimming pool overlooking Kaipara Harbor blurs the boundaries between indoors and out.
Photographs via Herbst Architects.
Above: The pavilion has entertainment facilities and gabion walls to protect the pool from wind. 
Above: When the Herbsts first visited New Zealand in the mid-1990s, they were struck by the pared-down ease of bach living.
Above: An immense wooden door connects the pavilion to the elements.
Above: "It has taken me 20 years to learn how to make a building properly. I liken it to playing an instrument; it's only when you are a very fluent musician that you can start to think more emotionally about the process," Lance Herbst recently told the New Zealand Herald.
Above: With tidal pools, fresh water swamps, and scrub lands, Kaipara Harbour has a wide range of natural habitats.
Above: A view of the wide, shallow harbor.