Modernising a Heritage Building
Take a heritage building renovation nightmare and turn it into a dream come true. That’s what Beacon Construction was able to do for Juann Ryan, the owner of this home located on Auckland’s North Shore. Fortunately for Juann she discovered that with the right guidance, it doesn’t have to be problematic.
Pieter Oosterbaan of Beacon Construction relays his understanding of the original brief. “Juann wanted a house that was low maintenance, easy to live in, had easy access and a distinctly modern feel. And this is exactly what we gave her.”
According to Juann, the original Northcote Point house was in a ‘total state of disrepair’. Her original plans were to knock it down and build brand new on the large quarter acre property. After consulting her architect, Juann enlisted the help of master Builder, Pieter Oosterbaan and his team from Beacon Construction, who for 28 years have specialised in residential construction in the medium to high bracket on the North Shore. Pieter is very conversant with all facets of the new home building and renovations, and in dealing with councils and consents.
Juann’s home was built circa 1930 and was therefore heritage listed by the council. To meet the stringent heritage requirements Juann was required to keep the original front wall of the house as a facade. On inspection of the building Pieter found that the front wall was in such a bad condition it wold have to be completely replaced. To add to the situation the original building had been moved on to the site from another property, there were no foundations to speak of, and the area was very badly infected with borer – not an ideal combination!
Negotiations were started with the council and the final agreement being to rebuild the front wall of the house, as long as it was an exact replica of the original. With the project underway, the total rebuild was completed in six months. There are parts of the original house in the new building, including six stained glass windows that were recovered from the demolition.
Juann is delighted with the results and enjoyed the project. The house, although a modern building, has the appearance and characters of the original 1930’s bungalow. A flat built underneath serves as a home income and Juann has easy access to everything on her living area on one floor. The rooms are generous, with character wooden floors, a tiled deck and the detailing inside reflects the original from the 1930’s. She maintains it was a difficult project, but not nearly as difficult as it could’ve been because of the “wonderful advice and help of her architect and Beacon Construction”.
