Outside In series with Homestyle Magazine

This new build on a rural escarpment above the Te Matau-a-Māui/Hawke’s Bay coast was made indoors, trucked in and built to look after itself.

To see more of this story visit www.firstwindows.co.nz/depth-of-field

In a neighbourhood of timber villas, bungalows and old trees, there was a white stucco house with the charm of a fairytale illustration and a floor plan that had lost the plot.

To see more of this story visit firstwindows.co.nz/cover-to-cover 

Homestyle editor Alice Lines talks with Tom, of RB Studio. This project explores the Tukituki River basin, with an inversion layer settled across the valley floor. As the sun rises, the cloud lifts and Te Mata Peak reveals itself — a view that drew architect Tom Rowe’s clients to the site. They had been looking across several plots in the area, but this one offered the right balance of shelter, privacy and that extraordinary northern outlook.

See more of this house here https://www.firstwindows.co.nz/Heart-of-glass

Homestyle editor Alice Lines talks with Richard Naish, director of RTA Studio, about The Living House. This project explores new ways of designing and delivering homes, developed as a self initiated response to some of the biggest challenges we're facing in Aotearoa; housing, climate, and affordability.

Listen now, and visit www.firstwindows.co.nz/quick-change to see the story.

Homestyle editor Alice Lines talks with Jimmy Grey from Roberts Gray Architects about a Wānaka family bach designed to evolve with his family and also respond to the changing landscape of Wānaka. Listen now, and visit our website for more. 

Maungatapere lies 11km east of Whangārei and is home to Jock and Jane's renovated 110-year-old villa.

When Jock bought the property, there was a Skyline shed and an old villa sitting in the middle of a paddock. “There were no fences,” he says. “The lawns were a metre high and there were lots of weeds, and lots of things to do.” Initially he and his father planned to do the house up as a project and move it on, but over time the place grew on him. “I was like, no, let’s do it up to stay.”

See the full story, video and image gallery at firstwindows.co.nz/heart-and-soul

Homestyle editor Alice Lines talks with Gerrad Hall about designing a home that would respond to the surrounding villas, in Ponsonby, while adopting an architectural language aligned with contemporary living. 

Listen now, and visit www.firstwindows.co.nz/narrow-escape to see the story.

Homestyle editor Alice Lines talks with Richard Dalman about the Bunker House wedged into a hillside in the Mackenzie Basin. Listen now, and visit https://www.firstwindows.co.nz/hidden-in-plain-sight to see the story.

A fairly ordinary mid-1970s brick and cedar house in the beachy Auckland suburb of St Heliers was transformed into a tranquil private haven by architectural designer Vincent Payne with the application of some clever reimagining, skillful design and considered product selection.

See the full story and video at firstwindows.co.nz/subtle-vintage

We speak with Mike Hartley of Lloyd Hartley Architects about how he extended his family’s Beach Haven home with a modest, boxy renovation.

See the full story, video and gallery at firstwindows.co.nz/box-fresh