Trendsideas

Passive house design responds to sun, wind, rain and land-forms to optimise energy savings and indoor living quality – for this scenic Queenstown home, Altus Window Systems played an integral role

While offering many expansive picture and clerestory windows, this home also features low, long windows that balance views, privacy and sunlight mitigation

Need more storage and workspace? Here, a front peninsula provides more bench and storage space while creating an informal demarcation of the kitchen zone

In this bathroom, a wooden vanity benchtop loosely connects with the bathroom's timber wall boards – except, they're not timber at all, but rather textured board-formed concrete

For this kitchen, the cabinetry's timber framing connects with the room's plywood-finished walls and ceiling – helping to assimilate the workspace into the wider interior

A shapely Kado Lussi freestanding bath stands out in this bathroom – in part due to its plinth base and backdrop of large format monochromatic textured tiles

Calacatta sintered stone surfaces, a grooved oak island, and reeded glass cabinetry are just three refined design elements in this now storage-rich, well-connected kitchen

Strong coastal winds and an overly hot summer sun – potential negatives are turned into strong positives in this sculptural home that also boasts 'honest' materials and heroic architectural moments

How to achieve the look of a refined primary bathroom while keeping to a holiday home budget – here, marble-look porcelain sheet and a shell-look feature wall are just two luxury-feel elements

When Ian Gare, Operations Manager of PlaceMakers Alexandra and Cromwell, and wife Lynda decided to design their new home they chose the bold look of the Dimond® Roofing’s economical, tray inspired metal cladding profile DP955®

There are a few eye-catching elements in this bathroom but it's fair to say the Casabath Luce Ribbed Nero Backlit basin, from Artedomus, more than rises to meet the occasion

The jet black cabinetry in this kitchen is given additional presence when accompanied by Venetian Plaster walls and Quantum Quartz Porcelain island finishes with the look of marble