This home won an architectural award, not just because its clean compact design appealed to the NZIA judges but because its execution was complicated by the fact that it was built on top of an old brick garage.

The owners wanted a modestly sized family home and chose to retain the 1980's double garage that was set into the hill as the ground floor. Architect Mark Lithgow of Space Division gutted and revamped the existing structure and capped it with a second floor that blends seamlessly with the unpromising original structure. The result – a home that one architectural connoisseur has described as “perfectly formed.”

Two different colours of aluminium windows and doors were chosen to demarcate the contrasting cladding of each floor. Below, where the bricks are given a white plaster coating, Silver FROSTULTRA anodising is used, while above Black FROSTULTRA is chosen to complement cedar cladding, sloped and vertical runs of standing seam steel.

On the lower floor APL Architectural Series sliding doors open from the living area on to a front deck. In this three-panel configuration which stands 2.4m high, each panel is able to be moved to allow flexibility of use. The adjoining front entrance door, also in APL Architectural Series profiles, has full glazing to enhance light entry.

Double height loft spaces are a defining feature of the interior which also impresses with clean, clutter-free detailing. High level Metro Series windows flood rooms with natural light, and are in places screened with vertical aluminium louvres, whose deep frame creates a pleasing ‘border brow’ effect.

The high level awning windows are remotely controlled by electronic operators.