When the Canterbury earthquakes badly damaged their previous 1950s home, the owners of this home made the call to start again from scratch.

Rather than try to recreate what they had, they instructed architect Richard Ormsby of X Design Architects to take a ‘clean slate’ approach. Instead of a dwelling that stepped down the hillside, this time they built on a single level, a move that demanded large-scale earthworks.

Where the old place had felt closed-in, they created a more open, light-filled, easy-flow home – an achievement helped by Ormsby’s use of Metro Series, First Window & Door products.

The big design move in this house is a wide central spine that functions as something more than just an entryway. Incorporating a spill-over space adjacent to the living area, it makes for a stunning link between the public and private areas, with a handsome timber floor and ceiling, and big overhead windows offering views of the sky and the tops of nearby hills.

To ensure warmth and help minimise condensation, high-performance Metro Series ThermalHEART products were specified for this part of the house, as well as for a set of bi-folding doors and sliders that open onto an expansive entertainer’s deck at the sunny north-west corner. Elsewhere, a mix of First Residential Series ThermalHEART and other First products have been used to meet functional and budget objectives, all finished in Silver anodised.

The result bears out the old ‘no cloud without a silver lining’ addage. Faced with a disaster, the owners saw an opportunity, and built the house they wanted.