Above: The kitchen is positioned on
the hill-facing side of the great room
letting the living and dining areas
take pride of place. The long island
provides a casual seating hub while
the timber surfaces connect with the
use of wood throughout the interior.
Much of t he furniture for the project
was imported from Australia by
interior designer Di Henshall.
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“The owner is a perfectionist, and was very
clear from the outset what he wanted,” Hen-
shall says. “It was key that I didn’t compromise
the architect’s vision, yet still satisfy the owner’s
expectations for it as a home, not as a building.”
“The interiors also had to be in synergy
with the landscape and the climate,” she says.
“Everything we did, we did to complement the
naturalness of New Zealand. It is such a beauti-
ful location that we didn’t want to put anything
into the house that took away from the natural
beauty of the outside environment. What we
added was supportive rather than obstructive.”
Because the structure of the building is so
powerful – essentially concrete, stone and steel
– the interiors were softened using butt-jointed
timber on the walls and ceilings.
“The timber was stained to a sophisticated
grey-brown for a softened, weathered look,”
Henshall says. “This took time, but it was an
essential part of the project, because the timber
formed the main palette for the whole interior.”
The designer says this was one of the biggest
residential projects she’d ever undertaken.
“Because of the scale of the house, all of the
furniture had to be custom made,” she says.