An extensive renovation has transformed a traditional “Kiwi” bach on a steep hillside overlooking Little Akaloa beach, Banks Peninsula, into a high end architectural home. The house clad in Shadowclad cedar, is in total sympathy with its surroundings.

Its location of being close to the sea, in an area prone to strong winds and its isolation being an hour and a half an hour drive from Christchurch much of which is on narrow, rural roads, created challenges and influenced the choice of building materials and building systems.

The isolation also meant attention to logistics by the builder including basing a building team in the bay and good coordination with Christchurch-based sub-contractors to minimise travelling time. Given its distance from town, transport costs for materials had to be factored in. The access meant that all materials had to be transported from the roadside onto the site manually which was labour intensive.

Interior features include timber flooring and Italian tiles, a cedar timber entrance door and a cedar detailed staircase. The bathrooms and kitchen have been constructed with meticulous attention to detail using high end products.

An enclosed outdoor entertainment area with open fire and entertainment centre also offers another living zone built to withstand the elements, as does an out-of-the wind spa pool area.

A large structural engineered car deck 4m above the ground links to the driveway to provide the owner generous flat off-street parking.