House of the Year winner 2009
When Brett and Aimee Hickman set off on the journey to build their dream home in Pt Chevalier, they never dreamt it would end up being an award winner.
The journey began with a unique section; only 12 metres of road frontage and 46 metres long. Both Brett and Aimee had specific design ideas and criteria in mind and as a young, active family with new baby and plenty of animals, they were keen to end up with a house that was both stunning and a liveable family home.
They chose to build with Jennian Homes Auckland West and knew they had made the right decision from the outset.
“From our very first meeting with Jennian, we knew we had the right building company that could build our home within budget and to our exact design specifications. [They were] able to answer our questions on the spot and we could foresee an excellent working relationship”
The challenge for Tim Arlott, Jennian Homes Auckland West franchisee was to incorporate all of Brett and Aimee’s ideas whilst working within the constraints of the land.
“To get everything that Brett and Aimee wanted, it was simply a matter of using clever design. The house had to be both long and narrow, so we felt it needed to be a really interesting journey from the wide entry, through to the sunny living area at the back of the home” says Tim.
Due to the narrow nature of the site coupled with the Hickman’s lifestyle needs, the Jennian team delivered a home with striking street appeal through the mono-pitch façade and entry accompanied by unusual white bricks and mortar, combined with black weatherboards giving the house a dramatic finish.
During the demolition and rebuilding phase, an extremely patient Brett and Aimee lived in the still standing half of a 50 year old duplex that stood across the site. The other half was demolished to allow work to begin.
Any inconvenience was justified as the award winning house began to take shape. Jennian worked closely with the couple and came up with innovative and creative design concepts to incorporate all the items on their wish list that fit the unique layout of their home.
Skylights allowed sunlight to flood the long hallway and a ‘quality and classic’ design theme created a stunning white and stainless steel kitchen with walk in pantry to keep the room uncluttered and fresh.
Brett is a keen triathlete and so the garage was designed with clever storage in mind. Both Brett and Aimee work shifts, so sound proofing was important to this family. To accommodate this, all internal walls have been insulated to ensure that the home is healthy, warm and quiet. This achieves a future proofing aspect to the home as it results in better living for the family today and a better value home in the future.
The finished house exceeded all expectations and Jennian Homes decided to enter it into the 2009 Master Builders House of the Year Awards, where it achieved Gold Award status and has since been chosen as a Gold Reserve National Finalist in the national awards later this year.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to live in an award winning house. It’s great to know that the workmanship and quality of our house is of such a high standard. When we started the building process, we had a clear vision of what we wanted. The Jennian team listened to all our ideas and added plenty of their own to fulfil our desire for a spacious, modern, family home. They were easy to deal with, made the process stress free and more than delivered on our expectations”
When asked what advice they would give to others considering the adventure of building a home, Brett and Aimee say, “Come prepared with a must-have list and a wish list [yet] be willing to accommodate new ideas.
