LOCATION: Orakei
STATUS: Built
Some houses need to be rediscovered rather than reinvented. This architect-designed modernist home had drifted from its original intent over the years, layered with changes that clouded its simple clarity. The renovation set out to return it to its roots, carefully and with respect for the thinking of the architect who first drew it.
The original language was allowed to speak again. Timber-lined ceilings run the length of the rooms, the structure is left honest and visible, and the steel cross-bracing traces its lines across the glass like a pencil stroke on a drawing. Walls of glazing open the living spaces to the deck, the treetops and the hills of Orakei beyond.
Within that clarity, the plan was reworked for the way a family lives now. Living, dining and outdoor spaces flow into one another, so that a meal can drift from the table onto the deck at sunset and back to the fire as the evening cools. Each room has a purpose, and each connects easily to the next.
The interior is warm and restrained. Tan leather, linen curtains, a wood burner for winter, and a small collection of Danish classics, Wegner's Wishbone chairs at the table and his Flag Halyard chair by the fire. Paper lanterns hang low, glowing like the late sun they echo.
A modernist house, returned to itself, and made ready for the life of a family.
We carried out the architectural design and documentation of this project well over a decade ago. We have layered AI powered rendering over the as-built photo of our architectural renovation to show our own design intent for the interiors by replacing the soft furnishings & loose items since they were specified by someone else. We have however specified all the products and brands when we applied the post production edits and so this is our interior design work as well as architectural design renovation - refer to our AI policies on our ‘About’ page to find out more.