If you’ve never built before, it can be a daunting…
FLOOR AREA HOUSE 228 square metres (including garage)
BEDROOMS 4
BATHROOMS 2
CLADDING Shiplap Vertical Cedar
Tucked onto a compact Wellington site, this home delivers big living that’s not overbearing in its suburban setting. Two volumes, stacked in a + shape, reduce the visual scale and allow overhangs that shelter the living below.
Inventive configuration makes full use of the 466-square-metre section. The family can spread out through interconnected dining/living/kitchen/flexi rooms downstairs while upstairs are four bedrooms and a landing optimised with space for a desk.
Externally, vertical cedar cladding stained grey is countered by black aluminium joinery. At ground level light floods through floor-to-ceiling glazing; upstairs slot windows maintain privacy and frame slices of a cottage-clad hillside or neighbour’s cabbage tree.
Repurposed kauri floorboards from the ramshackle house that once occupied the site add character and the Scandi-chic kitchen, designed to accommodate a retro refrigerator, has cabinetry in white and pine – a showstopper. What’s not on show is the scullery: bi-fold doors in a cabinet disguise the room behind.
In the living area, a customised unit houses a TV and books. A woodburner and thermally broken joinery stand up to the chills of the windy city but Vitex decking on three sides means myriad options for a barbecue and brew when the sun shines.
