Backed by a golf course fairway, this home, designed by BD Design and built by Hallmark Homes, perfectly blends indoors and out.

WORDS Kathy Young PHOTOGRAPHY Anna McLeod

The Southern41 System suite of windows and doors by Rylock brings an efficient, thermally broken aluminium design, maintaining a comfortable temperature throughout the home all year round.

The owners of this striking Marshlands property in Ōtautahi Christchurch were no strangers to waiting. They had been dreaming of a place to call home for over a decade, having purchased the bare section back in 2018. But they were happy to take their time and find the right design and the right builder for the job of bringing it to life.

The section wasn’t without its challenges. Although sizeable at 643sqm, the mandatory setbacks from the Waitikiri golf course boundary and further restrictions from the adjacent road meant the available footprint needed careful consideration. The brief, meanwhile, included four bedrooms, an expansive open plan kitchen, living and dining space, plus an additional living area.

“It was a thoughtful process of design,” says Bryan Doull, from architectural design company BD Design. “There was a lot of collaboration with the clients. In the end we conceived the house as two gabled pavilions, connected by a flat-roofed central link.”

“We used a combination of dark cedar cladding through into the north-facing courtyard and then a slim- profile brick to deliver solidity and longevity,” Bryan says. Dark-framed windows tie the two materials together, with the brick cantilevering over the front entrance.

Kitchen designer Kristen Reid drew and designed the custom joinery and kitchen plans. Working closely with the homeowners and Fiona Renton from Sandalwood Design, Kristen included colour selections to produce 3D renders for the homeowners, before manufacture.

The Melamine Tahoe Walnut kitchen cabinetry is from NZ Panels Group’s Prime Melamine collection and its rich, dark tones offer a warmth and depth to this expansive kitchen.

Canterbury Clay Bricks’ Tasman bricks feature a subtly textured surface, helping the home feel modern, characterful and warm. These bricks were made specifically for this home – each batch is slightly different.

The north-facing courtyard is the secret heart of this 280sqm home. At six by six metres, it provides the master bedroom with its own private outdoor room, sheltered from the nor’wester winds, yet bathed in sun from east to west as the sun tracks the sky. “It’s such a great space because it’s sheltered. You’re capturing all the sun, with uninterrupted views of the golf course.”

Inside, the decision to introduce a raked ceiling in the main living and kitchen area transforms the feel of the space. Enhanced by two skylights, natural light floods the space throughout the day, while full-height sliding doors and windows frame a direct view of the golf course green.

“We thoroughly enjoyed this project,” says Patrick Dixon, general manager at Hallmark Homes. “When we build architecturally designed homes it’s all about bringing together a range of experts to collaborate on the project to deliver outstanding homes. A project like this takes careful design and planning and we work hard to ensure all the details and finishings meet our clients’ vision of the home.”

In terms of those details, the materials and colour palette began with the Canterbury Clay Bricks Roman Tasman brick, which was chosen with Bryan as a way of linking the inside and the outside. Interior designer Fiona Renton of Sandalwood Design, who has been working with Hallmark Homes on supporting clients with interior design advice for several years, presented colour options for the brick.

“It sets you off on a path,” Fiona says. “It’s actually laid in a random pattern and pointed in a tone so closely matched that the joins almost disappear. It all adds to the organic look and feel that we’ve tried to create throughout this home.”

Inside, the kitchen is the undisputed centrepiece of the home. At nearly five metres long, the benchtop serves as a cooking surface and also a social hub. The homeowners don’t often use their dining table, and they love to entertain, so this was a way to honour how the couple actually likes to live.

“Because of the size of it we wanted to use a simple and elegant material that wouldn’t overpower the room,” says Fiona. “We’re all delighted with how the engineered no-silica stone has worked out. It features in the scullery and splashback as well, and that makes the whole kitchen space very seamless.”

The kitchen island’s fluted front panels in a fresh sage green were the homeowner’s own contribution, as a way of introducing warmth and personality without disrupting the palette. “And the wall of Prime Panels Tahoe Walnut kitchen joinery, in Timberland Finish, wraps it all seamlessly into a very liveable space,” says Fiona. “In fact, the walnut joinery continues around the corner from the kitchen to conceal a hidden study door.” It’s a great detail that keeps the living space uncluttered, as the household’s working life disappears behind the timber.

The Stone Valley Cenere Natural tiles from Brymac Tiles feature in the bathroom, along with Linnear Natural tiles in the ensuite, giving both spaces an earthy, organic look and feel.

Everything flows seamlessly in this home. The ensuite is defined by the natural, large-format tiles, which again bring an organic and orderly style to the home. The laminate flooring, the wool carpet, the local brick, the cedar-stained exteriors. “It all nestles in beautifully with the aspect of looking at the golf course.”

Both the homeowners and Hallmark Homes are very pleased with the project. “There were no compromises on the home,” says Patrick. “We worked hard to ensure the complexity of the design was realised: even down to the details of the floating outdoor pavers requiring painstaking alignment and the custom four-metre-long pendant light, custom-made especially for the kitchen.”

The homeowners are happy with the home and the build process. “Our experience with Hallmark Homes from planning to completion exceeded our expectations in all facets,” they say. “We particularly valued having access to the owners of the company and being able to run ideas past them and take their advice on anything that may enhance our build.”

Now with adult children no longer at home and only each other and Stanley the dog for company, the homeowners can delight in the home they spent 10 years imagining. From the golf course, the facade stands firm, and from the inside, the feeling is almost one of being on holiday. Permanently.