River Road

What the client said

This new home does not look new. Situated in an established neighbourhood, its age seems somewhat undefinable and visitors are sometimes confused - is it new or old? This confusion pleases the owners for when their 75 year old home was destroyed by fire they were reluctant to accept the idea of a new and modern replacement.

Their brief to John Macdonald Builders was to create something ‘new’ using some things ‘old’. The result is a graceful home whose underlying philosophy blends the tradition and character of the Arts and Craft Movement with the advantages of modern building techniques, design and technology.

This home is about simplicity. It reflects the lifestyle of the owners creating beauty from utility and function. The ideas were not found in books or magazines about the latest house trends or styles but from a lifetime of experiences. A strong partnership with their clients meant that John Macdonald Builders were able to interpret these ideas providing a balance between imagination, practicality and cost.

The x square meter brick home overlooking the Waikato River is in fact two adjoining apartments with a firewall and internal courtyard separating the two. An internal connecting door upstairs allows the option of an extra attic bedroom being incorporated into either apartment. The clients live in the larger apartment, while an elderly parent lives in the adjoining apartment.

The clients’ desire to use old recycled materials, often somewhat imperfect, created challenges that went far beyond the obvious, that of blending the ‘old’ with the ‘new’. This involved many extra hours of intensive labour and an exceptionally high level of craftsmanship and skill. Not surprisingly it also engendered a sense of enormous pride amongst the builders on site that comes from doing something special, and something a bit different.

Some salvaged materials were from the original house and now provide a sentimental link with the past, but other recycled materials came from further afield. 18,000 solid clay bricks from a century old Dunedin warehouse provide the cladding, archways, fire surround and landscaping. These had to be water blasted and scrubbed by hand to meet local building requirements. Hundred-year-old timbers from a demolished wool store in Gisborne were used for the matai floors and rimu trim. Initially some of this timber seemed more akin to firewood but fastidious and skilful sorting, trimming, matching, filling, sanding and oiling transformed the old planks into timber full of life and history. Old pine dressers were converted to bathroom vanities, a pine wardrobe was converted to a kitchen pantry, while window and door sizes were altered to accommodate a collection of old stained glass sourced from South Island demolition yards.

This is new modern New Zealand home, with more than a thread of tradition and history, that successfully and simply creates something uniquely its own.