Coastal cool meets Scandi sensibility in this four-bedroom home. The owners, who’d spent time in Scandinavia, wanted a house in which the benefits from housing in that part of the world could be transplanted to Taranaki. Their new base had to be a warm, healthy home for their young family. The result: a 230sqm property that’s an efficient performer and supremely comfy place to live. How did the building team do it? With wrapped wall panels, use of the ‘frame-saver’ method that allows for extra insulation, a vented roof system, recessed thermally broken joinery, a heat transfer system, and underfloor heating and cooling. As well as being a proven performer, it’s also lovely to look at, and be in.

Vertical shiplap timber and muted grey coloured steel settle the home into its surrounds, including bush. Inside, pitched birch-ply ceilings and other timber features such as cabinetry and built-in furniture combine with white walls to infuse open-plan living spaces with Scandi style, too. Fling open sliders and you’re on a deck that stretches the length of the house and flows into a recess that creates a sheltered nook. This connects to the communal zone, but also to the main-bedroom retreat. This white-and-wood beauty with swathes of glazing also has a playroom, ply-lined garage, mudroom and laundry. It’s a sublime all-rounder.