Preserving the elegance of a century-old villa with a tasteful modern addition

In the latter half of the 20th century and up until the present day, it’s been many an Aucklander’s dream to renovate or extend the plethora of Victorian and Edwardian-era homes the city is known for. 

The lucky homeowners holding the keys for a century-old villa in an inner-city suburb may have many reasons to alter their home: to add extra space, to modernise the interior while maintaining the grandeur of the traditional exterior, or to convert outdated rooms into revamped spaces that suit the owner’s needs.

For a grand old villa in Epsom, originally built between 1900 and 1910, it was the former. In 2019, the owners finally put into motion a plan they had harboured for years: to add an entirely new extension to the house to make space for a fresh, modern kitchen. They began a hunt for the right builder for the job – and naturally came across one whose company name was an exact match for what they wanted to do.

They contacted Peter Osborne, the director of Add Space, who gladly took on the job – this kind of job is the company’s bread and butter, he says. “It’s all in the name – we specialise in additions and extensions, as well as general renovations on historic homes throughout Auckland – and this home was a particularly spectacular historical home.”

The name of the game for this project was to add a tasteful contemporary addition while taking great pains to maintain the traditional integrity. “The clients wanted to save the house from developers and build something beautiful while still keeping the villa charm and history,” says Osborne. “The architect took a modern twist on the old ‘lean-to’ that so many villas had done in the past, and reimagined it to great effect. 

“Then it was our responsibility to bring that to life.” 

He and his team began their work on the addition in late 2019: it started with the foundation, then the steel structure and framing, then the joinery. “The joinery was beautiful – all rosewood sills and western red cedar frames. We also finished all the interior with the red cedar too – all negatively detailed to 12mm with powder coated aluminium trims.” 

Osborne says the structural steel was a particularly complex component of the build. “The pillarless door junction off the kitchen, as well as the cantilever flat roof over the deck, required a lot of manipulation to line them up correctly,” he says. “This was mainly due to the negative detail to the interior, and offset end wall that had structural steel exposed.”

One of the technical highlights of the build was working with the primary interior materiality, Osborne says: the flooring in the kitchen and surrounding area was kauri, recycled from demolished buildings in Christchurch post-earthquake. Another highlight was the quality of the finer details throughout the space.

“The guys took a lot of pride in the fact that all lap lines match, from wall to roof and back down, whilst keeping a perfect 12mm negative detail straight through the building.”

The Add Space team also worked on the kitchen fixtures themselves, which were designed to be modern, sleek and minimalistic. “This particular addition combines our workmanship in both timber joinery and kitchen cabinetry, so this project was a great way to showcase our expertise,” says Osborne.

The biggest highlight, though, was completing the work and presenting the finished product to the clients, James and Kim – who promptly had a pool party for everyone who worked on the project as well as the family.

“They made us feel so welcome and were very appreciative of our work,” says Osborne. “The best thing is seeing people's reaction as they walk in the front door – there is a great sense of pride.”

Learn more about Add Space and its recent projects.