A leading architect is selling the striking five-bedroom house she designed for her family five years ago to do it all again.
Nikki Launder founded her practice, dn², 14 years ago with her father, Dave, who started his career in the 1970s with such luminaries as Roger Walker, Sir Ian Athfield and Gordon Moller.
Launder has been renovating houses since she graduated from architecture school, but 32 Edgars Road, in Auckland’s Westmere, was a different kind of project.
Launder and her husband were determined to show how well the new density rules could work at a time when many residents in character suburbs like Westmere were sceptical, if not hostile.
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Their plans involved moving a bungalow closer to the street to create a new section for a modern build.
“I am totally against urban sprawl,” she told OneRoof. “So, increasing density in the city was important to me.”
Launder managed to find room for two gardens and a pool on the site. Photo / Supplied
Launder in 2006. She is the daughter of Wellington architect Dave Launder. Photo / NZME
In 2021, when she was drawing up the plans for the new home, Auckland Council was still figuring out what could and could not be built under the Unitary Plan.
“There’s always compromises with the council. It was tricky navigating the resource consents,” Launder said.
“It would be a lot simpler now because I think the council are much more encouraging of [density].”
Once Launder had moved the bungalow, Little Blue, closer to the street and renovated the inside, she turned her attention to designing and building the new house, which she dubbed the Back Black House.
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Her husband and three teenagers were her demanding clients, but she nailed the brief.
The 286sqm two-storey house has five bedrooms, a swimming pool for the kids, living rooms at ground level, courtyards and gardens to bring in light.
The materials she chose – stained cedar, walnut joinery, a mix of black stained and raw concrete on walls and floor, reeded glass on the stair handrail, Negresco black stone on the kitchen island – create a rich moody home.
“Moody is a slight contradiction, because it is really sunny,” Launder said. “I did not want it to be bright with light oak and white. It is very, very textural.”
The living room is a few steps below the kitchen and dining room, and is surrounded by glass. Photo / Supplied
Launder praises her team of builders and joiners for their craftsmanship, which is evident throughout the house. The family went to Luke Jacomb Studio, in Avondale, to watch their light fittings being hand-blown, while the stair lights are sourced from a Czechoslovakian hotel.
Outside, there is a shower, granite pavers, solar panels, and a rainwater retention tank. “There are all these details like that that are so personal. You are going to make me not want to sell the house in a minute,” Launder joked.
She is particularly fond of the semi-sunken lounge, which is surrounded by windows on all three sides and overlooks the swimming pool, and is proud that she managed to fit two courtyards on the 412sqm site.
The family is selling to do it all over again, location unknown.
The kitchen is finished in a rich moody Negresco black stone and walnut. Photo / Supplied
“I just love a project. I would do this whole process again,” she said. “My father Dave and I have always just had this approach of building houses that we want to live in, that are personal to us ... and then we live in them for however long suits.”
Wall Real Estate agent Ollie Wall, who is selling the property with colleague Fliss Grennell, told OneRoof that it was something special.
“Everywhere feels like a cosy space, but it’s actually got a lot of separation. We see many people try to achieve that, but Nikki’s absolutely nailed it.”
He expects the property to sell for more than its RV of $4.225m. It’s only been on the market for a few days, but he’s already had an unusually high number of enquiries from buyers.
“I reckon that building luxury homes in the $4m to $6m range ... people are lining up for them,” he said.
- 32 Edgars Road, Westmere, Auckland, is for sale, deadline closing August 18
