With soul
With builder and client being one and the same, the rules can be rewritten. The couple behind Diemarco Projects and Saben Group turn their construction expertise on their own thoughtful Gibbston Valley home.
WORDS Kathy Young PHOTOGRAPHY Zee Dichev/ImageWorks / Rose Veale Woods
In the depths of Central Otago, between Bannockburn and Arrowtown, in the rugged and sun-baked Gibbston Valley, sits a house that the owners describe as “nourishing, and with soul”. For builders-turned- homeowners Joseph Coutts and Lauren Christie, their family home, completed at the end of 2023, captures everything that they set out to create.
Both Joseph and Lauren grew up in the Central Lakes district, and when they went looking for land together, Gibbston Valley made obvious sense. “It’s an ideal location keeping us close to the action of Queenstown, while enjoying the peace and tranquillity of the mountains and surrounding vineyards,” says Lauren.
The 3800sqm section they chose adjoins the working vineyard of Peregrine Winery, reached by a driveway that winds past heritage buildings and under old oak trees. “We’re fortunate to share the manicured grounds of the winery, which adds to the experience of arriving home,” says Lauren. The valley, perfect for grape growing, has its own microclimate of sweltering, dry summers and deep, moody winters. It’s a rawness the couple find appealing rather than daunting.
Joseph and Lauren were both the clients and the builders for this project. They run their design venture, Saben Group, alongside their construction company, Diemarco Projects.
The CR50 slim Roman format bricks from Canterbury Clay Bricks were used for the interior and exterior cladding of this home. They are a custom-blended colour, and feature a smeared mortar.
The concrete floor colour from the PeterFell Special Terracotta range resulted in a look that was perfectly aligned to the homeowners’ vision.
“Being the builder and client made it easier and harder, all at the same time,” says Joseph. The brief began with a shared idea: a pavilion-style family home with a mezzanine floor in the main structure, creating a warehouse-type feel, with curated garden surroundings. From there, Lauren pushed for something Central Otago rarely sees.
“We didn’t want to go for what is commonly seen in our area, which is the classic schist and cedar materials,” Joseph says. Instead, Lauren championed using brick, heavily bagged and rusticated, rather than crisp and clean. “We wanted the building to capture a sense of soul,” says Joseph.
The brick made its way indoors, too. “By bringing the cladding inside you benefit from the texture and character of it,” says Lauren. Paired with a burnished concrete floor coloured with PeterFell pigments, a raw steel staircase and exposed timber, the interiors deliberately avoid classic finishes and start to become homely and representative of their unique family vibe.
“The kitchen ceiling is lined in sequoia redwood timber,” says Joseph. “There’s a richness to it, which is complemented in the main bedroom. There we used recycled rimu beams to form an exposed mid- floor structure. We left the joists visible rather than concealing them.” The herringbone strutting between them was inspired by an old warehouse the couple spotted out at lunch one day in Auckland’s Britomart. Achieving the final look, Joseph admits, required some specialised knowledge that “isn’t often taught at [carpentry] school”.
The outlook from the bedroom of surrounding natural schist and native vegetation has become a favourite of the couple. Lauren says, “The view from the bedroom graduates from the immediate native plantings across the Kawarau Gorge to a plateau defined by dense matagauri, which climbs the towering Rock Peak.”
At 514sqm, with stud heights reaching 3.6m and 6m at the apex, the five-bedroom home has a cathedral-like feel in the main living space. This was intentional in the design, says Lauren, as a way of sequencing through the spaces, from the low, dark entry to the soaring, chapel- like lounge. “It’s the compression of volume and space that I really love,” she says.
Gracing the master bedroom are the elegant Petrine Wall Sconces, designed and developed in Christchurch by Nightworks Studio.
Plastered by Dowd Concrete & Plaster, the bedroom features an Ambitec SuaveStone finish behind the bed, paired with a sleek Forcrete microcement vanity. Together, the finishes bring depth, texture and understated luxury to the space.
The entire home has a sense of the Mediterranean about it, with inspiration coming from the family’s holidays to Spain’s Andalusian coast. “It was a significant inspiration for how we wanted our gardens to integrate with the home, to achieve that indoor-outdoor flow,” says Lauren. In the design, the couple also divided the triple garage and mezzanine office from the main house, so arrival at the property means passing through a portico into a courtyard garden before reaching the front door – a touch of separation that leaves work just a few steps away from home.
At the courtyard’s heart stands a 25-year-old olive tree, which the couple transplanted from Lauren’s family land. It’s a nod to family connections as well as to Mediterranean flora. This courtyard beautifully leads on to the other generous outdoor spaces, including a pool and spa.
Designed for a family of six, plus two dogs, the home has been built to accommodate both formal and messy living, with a separate self-contained one-bedroom studio for visiting parents or guests. But it’s the warmth and calmness that sings within this home. As Joseph puts it, drawing on his musical upbringing: “I was brought up playing and listening to blues and country music. Through that, you know when someone’s playing with soul. And when it comes to buildings, it’s a bit the same. You know when you walk into a building, and it’s got soul. That’s what we’ve wanted to create here.”
Involved in this project
BUILDER
Diemarco Projects
020 442 3330
diemarco.com
DESIGN, MANAGEMENT & INTERIOR DESIGN
Saben Group
021 910 981
sabengroup.nz
EXTERIOR & INTERIOR BRICKS
Canterbury Clay Bricks
03 341 5036
clay-bricks.co.nz
COLOURED CONCRETE FLOORING
PeterFell
0800 422 65687
peterfell.co.nz
BEDROOM FEATURE LIGHTING
Nightworks Studio
0800 568 369
nightworksstudio.com
POLISHED PLASTER
Dowd Concrete & Plaster
022 137 6585
dowdcpf.co.nz
