The Red House

A heritage renovation and new build addition - Full service Interior Architectural | Design

Featured on Grand Design New Zealand

The Red House on Cranmer Square

The Red House began with a question that haunts a lot of Christchurch homes: what do you keep, and what do you let go? This was a heritage home with good bones and a difficult history — a house that had been loved, neglected, earthquake-tested, all before we arrived.

The brief was a full interior architectural redesign alongside a new build addition. The challenge wasn't choosing between old and new — it was making them feel like they'd always been part of the same thought. The heritage portion kept its character: high studs, original proportions, the kind of detailing you can't buy off the shelf. The new addition brought volume, light, and a contemporary material palette that respects the original without imitating it.

We worked in black. Deliberately. The kitchen, the staircase, the joinery — all in a deep, warm black that anchors the space and lets the architecture breathe. Against timber floors and white walls, it reads as confidence rather than darkness. Every surface was chosen for how it ages, not just how it photographs.

The staircase became a centrepiece — a sculptural move that connects the old and new portions of the house without pretending the seam doesn't exist. Black steel, timber treads, and a skylight that pulls light down through the heart of the home.

Featured on Grand Designs New Zealand. Full-service interior architecture, joinery design, material selection, furniture, and styling — all carried in-house from concept to completion.