More do-ups, please
Architect team say renos are the sustainable way forward, writes
Architects Kate and Daniel Sullivan are big fans of the classic Kiwi doer-upper. Their 1938 concrete house in Sumner, Christchurch, had been uninhabited for about eight years when they bought it.
‘‘We used to get people telling us, ‘I remember your home – it used to be the party house where everyone would go when the tavern closed,’’’ says Daniel.
The couple, who run Architects’ Creative, stripped the rotting carpets, flaky paint and leaky roof from their ‘‘bunker’’ and strengthened the structure. Kate gave birth to their second son during the second stage of their renovation: the addition of a pop-up master suite with skylights. Their project went on to win the major NZIA renovation award, and two Gold Pins at the Best Awards last year, but Kate just calls it home.
What first appealed to you about your house?
About eight years ago we were renting in Sumner, which is where I grew up. It’s a good place to raise a family. Daniel is from Christchurch too. We actually went to the same primary school and met again at Victoria University, when we were both doing our bachelors’ degrees.
The timing was between earthquakes, so finding something was at the forefront of our minds. We also wanted to get our hands dirty on a project together. The property offered us a renovation we could do in stages. We renovated for the first year, moved in, and then created the addition.
We’re located in the first block back from the beach. We’re often down there playing, paddle boarding, surfing and swimming.
There’s a certain charm to this house, it’s one of those things that’s hard to describe. But we felt like it was the right place for us.
What was your lockdown like?
It was a slow version of business as usual. We’d stop work at 3pm and focus on family time. It was a novelty for us both to be at home with our two young boys, Beau, 5, and Art, 18 months.
We were fortunate to have a space at home that could be easily turned into an office. We had converted our garage into a studio, which was meant to be a space for me to do art, and for our boys to do crafts.
Keeping some separation between work and home (while still being at home) was quite essential.
We’re very grateful for the area we live in. We have the beach just down the road and amazing hills with walking and bike tracks that meant cabin fever didn’t set in.
How did you get into architecture?
Even as a very young child I was always keen on creating my own structures. My family had a place in the Marlborough Sounds where we’d spend four to six weeks every summer. I’d just build huts, forts and treehouses. There’s always been a passion to create with my hands.
I went straight from high school into studying a Bachelor of Architecture.
What’s your favourite space at home?
I do love the kitchen and spend a lot of my time there. What I absolutely love in our kitchen is that I only have to take a couple of steps to reach everything from the fridge to the sink.
We often think a lot about social spaces in a house and how they’ll work when we’re entertaining. It’s equally important to think about personal space in a home. This is what I’ve reflected on heaps in the last two months.
A home needs a space for every individual to have sole control over. In a larger home that might be a room, or in a smaller house it might be a nook. If my children allow me to, I pop upstairs and sit on our deck. I look at our view of the hills and read a book.
Do you think Covid-19 is going to affect how we design houses?
We’ve been given an opportunity to consider the way we live, and to reflect upon the way the spaces that we have at home actually work for us.
People are often quite focused on how many bedrooms there are in a house. What