We have done a number of “traditional” villa modifications in the past – but this was not one of them!
Lots has been written about the villa by smarter minds than mine – but I love the traditional NZ villa. Not in a cutesy cottage kind of way – but as a smart building system. The Villa was the kiwi original “prefab” in many ways – evidenced by the fact that it was always documented on one A3 sheet and it now takes 60 pages to get a consent for a new house.
They were simple “cellular” structures – rooms either side of a hallway that faced the street – and its always a challenge opening them up to views and sun. In this reno we opened up a 1912 villa and went into the ceiling space for more light height and space.
Built on the side of a cliff, the renovation involved extensive geotechnical engineering to stabilise slopes and cope with the site specific design wind speeds over 200 km/hr
