For architect Dave Strachan of Strachan Group Architects (SGA), the brief for this 1980s pole house renovation seemed straightforward enough: to enhance the original knotty design into an enduring and light-filled home. The realities, however, were less obliging. The site’s serene, secluded position and water views came with a catch – no parking, no driveway, just a goat track carved into a perilously steep slope. Then, there was the building itself.

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While the front of the one- bedroom house was well positioned and scaled, the back was another matter. From above, it read like a triangle tacked onto a box, sitting at an odd angle with a bathroom and laundry jammed in. Rooflines collided, there were many split levels, and a treacherous staircase led to a mezzanine masquerading as a primary bedroom. “It didn’t make any sense,” says Strachan. But thankfully, he knew how to change that.

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Owners Denis and Desna Jury had engaged SGA before they even signed the contract, needing confidence that a renovation – rather than a rebuild – was viable. The house had challenges, but it also had many lovely original features. SGA’s plan kept the north-facing living areas, with a few contemporary tweaks, which included replacing the old aluminium window joinery with high-performing Altherm doors and windows, with Solux-E low-emissivity glass. These openings track the arc of the sun, from the kitchen to the living area, across the day. Slim roof windows in the soaring ceiling draw light deep into the plan.

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By extending the roofline and rebuilding the back of the house, Strachan delivered what the original plan never could: a larger kitchen, a guest bedroom, a separate laundry, a second bathroom, and generous storage. The Jurys have a fondness for Scandinavian design, and the reworked home brings that calm, practical sensibility to the forefront with purposeful but pared-back spaces.

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The treacherous staircase is gone, too, replaced by a new internal stair that leads to a completely reconceived mezzanine – now a proper primary suite with bedroom, bathroom, wardrobe and study. Altherm glazing and louvred windows on the southern and eastern walls capture the morning rays and aid natural ventilation, pushing warm air up and out of the home.

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What makes this peaceful Waiheke renovation so impressive isn’t simply that Strachan has preserved the best of the original, but he’s made it sing. The home’s robust timber poles (found to be a smidge rotten during construction) were trimmed back and capped in steel: a detail both pragmatic and quietly handsome. These connect to the covered verandah, which was refinished with a slatted pergola and sliding screens that improve solar shading to the core of the home. A considered material palette of oak floors, birch-ply cabinetry, tiles, white walls and Malaysian kauri ceilings does the rest, culminating in a cohesive, calm home on the Waiheke hillside. The renovation suits the home, it suits the site, and most importantly, it suits the Jurys.

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This story was brought to you by our friends at Altherm Window Systems. To see more of this project including video and podcast, click here.

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