Upmarket showhome showcases expertise of high-end custom design-and-build company

When designing a showhome, a design and build company will naturally include the best of everything, both to show off the firm’s resources and skills and to capture a buyer’s imagination. This home, however, takes it all to the next level.

Experienced designer-builder and owner of Chancellor Construction Wayne Zeng says his firm has undergone a major shift – moving from building standard upmarket homes to working with high-end, one-of-a-kind luxury residences.

“We’ve thrived in this market for over six years now. But lately there’s been a clear shift in customer interest towards top-end homes that reflect the highest quality in terms of functional design, natural materials, hand-crafted features, advanced home technologies, future-proofing – essentially, the best of everything,” says Zeng.

“And our latest offering – a six-bedroom Albany showhome complete with granny flat is a showcase for what clients can expect from us.”

The home is clad in a mix of plaster-over-brick, cedar, and timber weatherboards. It is roofed in CertainTeed shingles from Viking Roofspace.

And the home is equally appealing inside. Offering great functionality, it’s organised with a grand entry, separate flat, three-car garage, laundry and rumpus on the ground floor. The first floor has the kitchen, dining and family area and formal lounge while the top floor includes the master suite, study and more bedrooms.

“Every aspect of this showhome was thought through to the nth degree, with emphasis on quality and a refined lifestyle,” says Zeng.

“A hand-laid parquet floor features in the kitchen-dining area and the Italian Arclinea designer kitchen was supplied by Matisse. This has feature-rich Gaggenau ovens from Premier Appliances, who also supplied the high-end, ultra-high definition Bang & Olufsen integrated entertainment system in the same room.”

Built-in cove lighting offers a variety of mood scenarios for the home – operated from a smart phone. The lights can change colour, or work in sequence for a party feel. And there are combined atmosphere settings, too. For example, when activating Cinema Mode, the living room’s HD ceiling projector drops down, the lights dim and blinds come down. All this high-tech wizardry is controlled by a Pyng hub located under the stairs.

The home has a yin-yang, black and white Feng Shui theme running though it, too, and the windows and doors play a key part in this.

Elite North Harbour measured, customised and supplied the windows and doors on the Lagonda Rise home, says Elite North Harbour general manager Joanna Jin.

“With a decade of experience, we’re one of the leading firms delivering quality aluminium windows and doors in Auckland,” says Jin. “We regularly work on Wayne’s projects and have a great working relationship.”

“Here, we used the Architectural Linear 35 Series by Fairview to manufacture the joinery.”

The Linear series had the strength needed for the picture windows and spans of bifold doors. Plus, the sliding door is designed with flush tracks to optimise an easy indoor-outdoor flow.

The choice of the Linear suite with its square shapes and timber liners further extends the showhome’s classic-meets-modern appeal. The sleek window-and-door suite is powdercoated black to match the wider interior detailing.

“We also provided on-site advice regarding the finer details of placement and customisation of the doors and windows to ideally complement and optimise the home’s architecture.”

The custom black powdercoated balusters on the three-flight central stair also contributed to the home’s black-against-white detailing. The central stairs and their balustrades were designed, custom-manufactured and installed by Continental Stairs – a specialist firm that’s been in business 35 years.

Continental Stairs director Anthony Van Erp says his company has worked with Chancellor Construction on many projects over the past five years, with this house being one of the most upmarket projects they’ve worked on together.

“The stairs and their supporting structure are fairly standard but the balustrades, and the wrought iron balusters in particular, are more detailed. This fitted with Zeng’s vision for the home to reflect hand-worked craftsmanship.”

The stained and turned timber newel posts specified by Chancellor contribute to the home’s traditional appeal. However, the wrought-iron balusters between the newel posts were chosen by the developer in three styles – plain, twisted, and twisted with a decorative ‘basket’ in the middle. These were installed on site in a pattern.

“We had a team of ten working on this job, each with their own specialist trade skillset.”

Everywhere in the home there is a sense of opulence. A large-format, floating porcelain tile wall, with the look of marble and underlit for drama, backdrops the Rinnai wall fire in the living room, following Fung Shui principles.

These are only some features in a home that has everything from a Kohler toilet seat that remembers a user’s preferences to a garage floor finished in a pebble aggregate that can include a custom graphic of, say, a family name or crest.

Designed with every element considered down to the last detail, the home’s a perfect calling card for Chancellor Construction and all the products and services involved in the project.

Story by: Trendsideas

Photography by: Sam Xiao, Sam Sunton New Zealand