A New Plymouth apartment constructed by David Fabish Ltd far and away exceeded judges’ expectations in taking out the James Hardie Show Home Award in the Registered Master Builders 2006 House of the Year, in association with PlaceMakers.
The third-storey apartment is situated on the top floor of an exclusive two-dwelling development in New Plymouth. The architect’s brief was to create a building that made full use of the extensive sea and city views to the north.
The minimalist design incorporates two apartments, two double garages and an additional workshop or office space for each, with the entry and lift shared.
Some of the impressive features of this show home include Hansgrohe tapware, Bosch appliaances, German toilets and basins, designer kitchen and extensive tiling.
The insulation levels and hand-wired fire detection system are well above code requirements, and the audio-visual entry system and solid-core fire doors ensure complete security.
The innovative design of this property has created a happy equilibrium between a modern, industrial-looking exterior, and a warm, residential feel inside.
There are solid-filled concrete block walls on the ground floor level, with pre-cast concrete slabs and steel frames above. The north wall is finished with painted synthetic composite weatherboards over a timber frame on the upper two levels, and has anodised double-glazed aluminium windows.
The west wall, looking out to the Tasman Sea, is constructed from thick compressed sheet with negative expressed joints.
A large square window looks seaward from the lounge, which opens to a corner kwila slatted deck. The balustrade is aluminium-framed and vertically cantilevered, and each balcony has a steel corner post which supports the widely cantilevering aluminium corrugated sheet roofing.
The cantilever provides shading to the north face, while the recessed balcony also shades the kitchen and living room.
After looking at several of the more standard types of show home, this property was a real surprise for the judges, who were particularly impressed by the minimalist design of the building.
“Nothing can be hidden. There are no mouldings to hide poor junctions, and we saw no attempt to do so. We were very impressed and this property well satisfied our show home criteria,” the judges commented.
Mr Fabish entered the House of the Year competition because he believed he had a great product and wanted to see how it stacked up against other top entries.
“We were really humble in our expectations but walked away with a national award, which was great,” Mr Fabish said.
“It’s been a tremendous boost to our current clients and our future clients who have read about it in the paper.
“I strongly encourage people to enter because you just don’t know how far you will go!”
