When I first started working for Jeremy Salmond in the mid-1990s, a lot of our work involved the renovation of period houses that had already had a make-over in the 1970s, with what at the time were modern alterations often using anodised (natural) aluminium joinery.
Over the past decade, there has been a move to design in a way that clearly distinguishes a contemporary addition from the existing original. This acknowledges a conservation principle in which new work should be readily identifiable as “of its time” rather than
a replication of the original. This may be good in theory, but I can’t help harking back to those 1970-90 additions.
The thing is, high-contrast contemporary design is just one of the available strategies for making additions to traditional houses, but I remain firmly of the belief that the subtle adaptation of the original architecture is still a healthy way of resolving this. Both options are potentially successful, but either way, the key thing is getting proportion and scale right. (ROSALIE STANLEY)
Salmond Reed Architects, 58 Calliope Road, Auckland, M: 021 37 22 78, www.salmondreed.co.nz
#SalmondReedArchitects #homerenovations #villarenovation #Greylynn #freemansbay #westmere #ponsonby #hernebay #stmarysbay #archhill #family #friends #coxsbay