Manatu St

Given the rich history of this suburb, Mt Eden, Auckland has no shortage of character villas that when tastefully renovated can offer up some of NZ’s best inner suburb living. However, given the way we live now vs back then, villa’s can also be complicated to upgrade when the time comes. 

This particular property was on a highly sought after corner site, and at one one stage was home to miners that worked in a nearby quarry. 

Redoing the garage was our initial brief, which was leaking and wasting space on an expensive site. Villas typically struggle for space, therefore, any/all usable area should be carefully considered. This particular project was no different and it was clear that space could be better utilised somehow. 

With the existing laundry in the kitchen, the client wanted to create a laundry that ideally wasn’t in the house. Our ultimate goal with the garage became to create a more usable space that wasn’t in the house, but still connected to the house.
 

When it was time for us to come on sight our starting point was the structurally unstable garage, which was at a point of collapse. However, the job would soon become a full scope alteration and renovation project.  

Typical issues with these historical houses aren't just with the structures themselves either. Compliance is one area that’s often overlooked by the homeowner and can have dramatic effects on both timelines and budget. 

A few specific areas that we encountered compliance issues on included:  height to boundary infringements, firewalls, drainage, structural engineers, engineers, Auckland Transport, crossing permits. 

Given our knowledge and experience working with these types of compliance conditions, we were able to leverage it and navigate through the red tape with minimal client involvement, which was a real bonus for our time poor client that needed to focus their attention on demands elsewhere. 

This was fast becoming an exciting project that afforded us the opportunity to use contemporary building techniques with classic materials. What we ultimately achieved with that became a modern garage - complete with a wc, laundry and entertainment room for their teenagers (and Dad). 

This multifunctional space became somewhere for adults to work during lockdowns and at the same time offered significant storage with built-in cabinetry. The finer details included solutions for how the black fence height could offer just the right amount of privacy from the street, as well as how to future proof services for accentuating features like the electric gate. 

Once again, working closely with the architect allowed us to achieve a well considered, seamless addition that balanced both form and function. 

The end result was a villa addition that offered much more than 2 car garage and off street parking.  With very little adjustment made to the millimeter perfect design, the client also now benefits from a more unique, usable space that is a key value-add feature of their timeless, character home.