This was a beautiful old semidetached period house on its last legs. It was dark, damp and leaky. But none of that mattered, it was in an amazing location, with a spectacular ocean view. The owners knew well what they wanted from the rebuild and they were bang on. The spec was for bright and spacious, focus on the view and make the whole space (inside and out) grandchild friendly.

The interior of the house was changed from many small rooms into an open and flowing building, which overflowed in to a glass and timber two story extension. The light and view in the extension is a credit to the vision of the owners. All services, including gas tanks were buried underground in to ensure an uninterrupted view. Function, child safety and beauty all rolled into one.

We started with the hope that we could keep the existing floors, but they were rotted to the core. This in turn gave us the ability to raise the ceilings on the ground floor. The extra two feet in height gave the reception rooms added light and volume while not noticeably taking from the bedrooms overhead. Every cloud has its silver lining.