‬ renovation

When a well-travelled, retired lawyer asked Smac Studio to create original interiorsblending serenity with character, it was a very welcome challenge. “The client wantedher home to feel timeless, feminine and elegant—but also with a bit of cool factor,” says Shona McElroy, Principal of Smac Studio. Embracing and reflecting the lush garden was a priority, with olive green andaubergine tones specified in the brief. Originally a very dark ‘90s build facing inwards,small interventions to the layout made a big difference to how the client lives andentertains. By changing a tucked away, U-shaped corner kitchen into a centred kitchen island focus has shifted out towards the garden. Caption Caption Caption... More

Designed for a textile designer and artist, Red Threads reimagines a traditional Grey Lynn villa as a home, studio and lively presence in its neighbourhood. It also marks a milestone for Pac Studio: our first carbon-positive house! Its corner site presents two public faces and a useful tension between creative openness and domestic privacy. Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett Samuel Hartnett The original house was clarified by removing an awkward street-front addition, extending the verandah and resolving the roof into a stronger composition of gabled and hipped forms. At the rear, the new work steps down the sloping site, reconnecting rooms that once sat well above the garden. A split-... More

Villa, bungalow, state home; regardless of typology, much of our existing housing stock was templated rather than designed to connect with the specific qualities of a site. Among the numerous renovation projects we undertake, a typical goal is to address deficiencies in light and outlook while strengthening connections to gardens, or to break discrete rooms into larger spaces that better cater to the needs of family life. As was the case in this project. Samuel Hartnett The key to efficient use of the budget on this project was to maximise space within the existing footprint, reorganising the floorplan to orient living spaces towards garden and sun, and merging the backyard and living spaces into a large indoor-outdoor area. Apart fro... More

This newly renovated kitchen sits within an existing 1920s bungalow in Maungawhau Mt Eden, Auckland. The house, located at the end of a quiet suburban cul-de-sac, is a charming example of the Californian bungalow typology, with classic detailing, tongue and groove floorboards, high ceilings, kauri panelling and colourful leadlights among the existing features.  The back of the house however, had been modified with an aesthetically jarring 1980s addition. It looked out of place and had reached the end of its serviceable life. Working with our client, we sought to revitalise and reimagine the kitchen in ways that were sympathetic to the heritage, detail and craft of the existing bungalow. It was, however, an exercise in creating new ide... More

Designed for a compact urban site, this sculptural alteration challenges expectations of light and volume. In plan, a corner of the home was carefully opened to extend into a new deck space, sheltered by a transparent roof—creating a softer, more diffused threshold between indoors and out. For our clients, both working in TV and film, we explored ways to apply deeper, moodier hues within new sculptural volumes. The result is an almost cinematic effect—attuned to the dramatic interplay of black and white. Caption Caption Caption The intervention maximises natural light—essential within a tight footprint—via strategically placed skylights, detailed within a carefully considered reflected ceiling plan. A... More

Some of the best heritage home reworkings just fit right in. There’s a nod to modern lifestyles in planning and building performance, but you can’t always point to something and say ‘that’s new’. For our studio, which has completed multiple villa, bungalow and modern heritage renovation projects, success lies in careful planning plus colour, materiality and strong connections, inside and out. Caption Caption Caption Caption Case in point, Amber Light, where the starting point, as it often is, was the existing heritage of the villa. This particular example was a rare specimen with elevated heritage detailing, including ornate Corinthian order mini-columns to the veranda and hallway-length da... More

Many heritage renovations, villa or bungalow, tend to involve some degree of ‘blowing out the back’ to extend living space. The footprint of this two-storey heritage villa in Epsom, however, was capacious enough, and rather required the removal of a series of ground-floor building accretions that had been added to back of the house, and their replacement with a new dining room and veranda. Throughout the renovation, the aesthetic intrusion on the existing structure is slight, with the intention being to upgrade the home to contemporary living standards without compromising its charm. Caption Caption Caption Our clients are enthusiastic art collectors, and their eclectic tastes, vintage fixtures and fittings, and... More

Waka Huia is a deeply personal renovation of a character villa on Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s harbour edge. Over more than forty years, its owner has filled the house with artworks, books, artefacts and family keepsakes, developing an instinctive understanding of rooms for art, entertaining and everyday life.The design continues this history. Original materials and crafted heritage details are retained and restored, with new work conceived in the same spirit of care, colour and longevity. Caption Caption On the ground floor, a reorganised plan brings the most frequently used rooms into morning light. The kitchen now occupies an open, central position connected to the dining room, garden and a verandah wrapping the north-east... More

Auckland is an unusual city in that there are still tiny timber buildings within spitting distance of the central business district. The character and quality of these buildings is important in understanding the growth and settlement of the city, as well as its continually changing social and economic history. But how do you acknowledge that heritage and also create a contemporary living environment which reflect today? Twin Peaks House is an alteration which takes inspiration from an existing structure in creating a contemporary space for a young family. The ceilings of the diminutive villa had been lowered and an unsympathetic addition had caused damage to the original structure. The brief presented by the owners was to expand the living... More

In Yeongwol, Gangwon Province, a church built more than 30 years ago had long stood vacant between two narrow alleys. Its original brick form had gradually been obscured by a series of later alterations such as a metal roof and exterior steel stairs. Glitter Hall retains the existing structural frame while removing these additions and reorganizing the interior. The former church is transformed into a mixed-use building containing a home for a family of four, along with a café and mathematics academy operated by the family. The name of the project, "hall" reflects the project’s intended relationship with its surroundings. Although privately owned, the building remains open enough for neighbors, students, and visitors to enter,... More

Mindeulleul proposes a space where nature and architecture breathe together, drawing on the humble landscape embodied by the dandelion and the passage of time held within an old hanok. At the heart of the project are two concepts: Sasiji-oe (四時之外) and Daegoe-aegi (大塊噫氣). The first invites visitors to experience the rhythms of nature beyond the boundaries of the four seasons, while the second seeks to bring the breath of the earth and nature into the space. Seasonal light and planting, the flow of water, and the movement of wind become integral elements of the environment, allowing visitors to dwell within nature’s continuous transformation. Nestled among the mountains and forests of Gomori, Pocheon, Mindeulleul preserves the memorie... More

Studio PROTOTYPE and ZENBER Architects have recently completed the transformation of Rijkskantoor B73 in The Hague, home to three ministries: the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security, and Nature; the Ministry of Climate and Green Growth; and the Ministry of Economic Affairs. Originally designed by Gijsbert Friedhoff, the historic building at Bezuidenhoutseweg 73 was later expanded in 2012 by Dam & Partners, further shaping its architectural legacy. The project aimed to modernize and renovate key areas within the complex, creating a flexible, sustainable, and future-proof government workspace. Jeroen Musch Jeroen Musch Jeroen Musch The challenge was to optimize these spaces for multifunctional use, with a str... More

The Tobiasschool in Zeist transforms a century-old monumental school building into a contemporary and future-ready learning environment. Rather than replacing the existing structure, the renovation builds upon its architectural qualities, preserving its character while introducing the space, comfort and technical performance required for modern education. The building has housed the Tobiasschool since 1982 and accommodates both special primary education and secondary vocational education for pupils who require additional support. Its small-scale character and combination of primary and secondary education are fundamental to the school's identity. Over time, however, the existing spaces had become too limited for changing educational method... More

On the Crackstraat in Heerenveen stands a late nineteenth-century building, facing the town's landmark Crackstate. It served as a parish centre, but no longer met the needs of its users, so MArchitecten designed a renovation and extension. In the first phase the later additions were demolished and the facade was cleaned up and restored. A new extension at the rear houses a cloister walk and a youth room. Theo Mestemaker Between the parish centre, the presbytery and the church a town cloister garden was laid out. Surrounded by the cloister walk, the garden is open to the public and offers space for art and culture. Inside the renovated building are meeting and rehearsal rooms, a lounge, a quiet room and several halls. On the upper floo... More