(Renovation,
12 months)
Master Builders House of the Year 2025, Silver
Ririnui
Nautical Escape
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The project
A three-level pole house on a cliffside above the harbour, stripped back and rebuilt in five stages.
The brief
Retain the key architectural features of the home, modernise it and give it a fresh feel.
Nautical Escape was an ambitious project. The existing house is a three-level pole house on the cliffside with wide harbour views, and its unusual shape and complex structure needed careful planning before anything started.
The work was split into five stages: a new roof, structural steel, external cladding, the interior, and landscaping. Each stage was programmed so the next could follow without delay.
The scale of the job meant extensive planning and several rounds with council. Every element had to meet the building code on a difficult site, and the finish had to match the standard the design asked for.
The result is a modernised coastal home that keeps the character of the original, with the comfort and durability of a new build. It won Silver at the Master Builders House of the Year 2025, Bay of Plenty and Central Plateau.
What was done
- Asbestos cladding stripped and replaced with new timber cladding
- External joinery replaced with double glazing
- Shared spaces opened up into one open plan living area
- Flat roof removed and rebuilt
- New kitchen, bathrooms and laundry
- Block basement converted into a second lounge
- All linings replaced
- New flooring throughout
- Structural steel to enlarge the top-floor deck
- New deck on the main floor
- New electrical and plumbing throughout
- Landscaping to all areas
