When you’re building that dream on scenic Waiheke, the logistics of getting materials across Auckland’s Tikapa Moana Hauraki Gulf up the ante. The results are clearly worth it.

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“You’ve got to be really organised,” says Tony Smith of A1Homes South Auckland of this slice of heaven at Waiheke’s Palm Beach. “You’ve got to have time frames, there are vehicles and ferries to organise so it’s a pretty full-on project.”

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With that in mind, after some persuading from the Burdett family, and a boatload of preparation, Smith came up with a home for three generations.

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“We worked closely with the owners, and sketched through several designs with them,” says Smith. “It worked out to be just what they wanted, so they’re really happy with it.”

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The Burdetts’ brief to Smith called for all five of the bedrooms and the open-plan living space to make the most of the west-facing views. The subdivided site itself, not untypically for Waiheke, was a challenge in itself: narrow and steeply inclined across its width, necessitating a three-metre-high retaining wall at the top of the section.

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To make that work, Smith designed a long enfilade of a home, in effect one room wide. It starts with a main suite for the family matriarch, and three children’s bedrooms close to the entrance. Then it makes its way down to the living, kitchen and dining area. The parents’ bedroom suite is located next.

Bathrooms and the laundry are discretely placed on the side facing the retaining wall. Large sliding doors lead out onto timber decks with glass balustrades and an unrestricted westward sea view. The brief made it a must have that the home had to organically be a part of the breathtaking site, consequently the build follows the profile of the incline in three split levels.

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“Breaking the house up into the three segments gave a wonderful look from the side of the property,” says Smith, “helping make it one with the natural landscape.”

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This settling in with the site is greatly enhanced by the mono pitch roofline, but needed the aesthetic counterpoint of a streamlined, contemporary cladding choice: here,  400mm Axon^TM Panel cladding sheets by James Hardie fit the bill perfectly – wide panels, joined by a vertical groove. “This worked out perfectly,” says Smith, “complementing the horizontal baseboards and eliminating the risk of narrower lines appearing too busy.”

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Axon^TM Panel enhances the minimalist build’s clean, flat look. “A lot of other claddings would simply look too complex,” says Smith, “and take away the impact of the home.” Smith regularly chooses James Hardie products for their quality, durability, low-maintenance and high performance.

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This brand preference also applies to the house's bathrooms. The tiled walk-in showers are lined with 18mm Hardie^TM Panel Compressed Sheet and 9mm Villaboard^TM Lining, easily supporting the tiles, floor to ceiling.

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The final touch? An attention-grabbing red front door. Combined with the sleek, clean-lined exterior, it creates serious street appeal in this thoroughly planned, laid-back gem.

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This story was produced in association with James Hardie. For more stories and product information, click here.

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