Trends New Zealand Trends Volume 31 No 10 New Zealand | Page 160

the architecture need to be respected – the
more you touch the fabric of the building,
the more likely you are to do harm. We
wanted to celebrate the architecture with
simple gestures that would be in keeping
with the heritage character – we especially
wanted to avoid awkward connections
between the old and the new.”
With the building providing two floors
at 650m2 each and a half-basement floor,
organising the huge space was another
challenge. Hawley says the owners chose
to position the main living area and most

of the bedrooms on the top floor, with an
extensive entertaining area on the first
floor. The lower level accommodates a
gymnasium and mechanical services.
“At some stage before the current
owners acquired the property, the interior
of the building was painted white from
top to bottom,” the architect says. “There
was also some very dark wood panelling
in an office area, and a water-damaged
ceiling on the second floor concealed
all of the original beams and joists.”
The entire building was dry ice blasted

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to remove the white paint. Every last
trace of paint was removed from the main
living level, but remnants remain on the
first floor – the distressed finish serving as
a reminder of what went before.
The panelling and low ceiling were
also removed, and all of the original steel
windows were replaced.
“We introduced triple glazing to the
new windows, which are otherwise exact
replicas of the original, single-glazed windows,” says Hawley. “The old windows
had not weathered well – the high levels