Northcote Point House
On a regular basis we work on challenging renovation and addition projects. This project is one of those. It is in a character overlay zone in Auckland, had previous additions which were poorly executed, and the existing house required extensive works to bring it up to modern standards. We also had several factors on our side, one of them being a client who trusted us through the design process and shared our vision for the site.
In a previous life this old villa had an upper level poorly designed and constructed. Roof lines went against what was existing and detracted from the Victorian villa character. Part of our job was to rectify this earlier architectural misalignment and transform the house partly back to its earlier Victorian glory and concurrently introduce a contemporary interior and modern addition at the rear of the house.
We decided early in the design process to push what would traditional be acceptable in the Auckland Council heritage team. We were able to navigate this process and gain significant wins, notably the vertical battens on the upper-level addition and the contemporary addition on the ground floor.
We get excited by these types of projects as we thrive on the challenge they bring. They are complex and highly detailed and allow us to stretch our architectural imagination.