Huntsbury Heaven: Trevor Hone Builders
As a first-time entrant, Trevor Hone Builders was the Mid and South Canterbury Region House of the Year New Home over $2 million winner, before making the list of the country’s top 100 home builds, as a national Reserve Gold finalist in the House of the Year Awards for 2018.
Director and Master Builder Trevor says the Huntsbury Hill house was a phenomenal building challenge, but one of the the best things about this intense build has been the interaction with the owners and their happiness with the finished product. Designed by Cymon Alfrey Architects, the house is a melange of angles and detailing, about as far from a box on a hill as you could imagine.
As with every project, Trevor was “passionate about realising the architect’s vision: if you’re not passionate you can’t do it. The complex architecture and engineering details have to be absorbed, understood, questioned and implemented”.
Engineered to the latest requirements the house has a reinforced concrete spine. The tricky steep, all-rock hill site has a foundation that has multiple layers, cut into the rock. The tiered retaining landscape walls form part of the foundations too. The roof is clad with Coloursteel tray roofing and a Viking Enviroclad roof garden, while the wall cladding is a combination of pitched Basalt stone, Alucabond, Cedar and tiles.
The interior of the three-bedroom home again utilises the Basalt Stone, with floors tiled and carpeted. The striking Mondrian style front door gives way to the art-gallery feel of the entrance hall that is tiled on both walls and floor. North facing decking runs the length of the upper and lower levels, with glass balustrading to ensure uninterrupted views.
The curved spine of the house, clad in pitched Basalt, which forms the main structure, runs externally and through the house, creating a spectacular feature. Trevor says this is one of the stand-out builds of his 20-year career for the level of technical difficulty and the stunning end result.
A perfectionist himself from the foundations up to the minute finishing details, Trevor acknowledges the commitment to an outstanding result from his team, and subcontractors JPM Contracting, High Spec Electrical, AVI Automation, Greg Sutherland Roofing, Whitehead Plumbing and Gas, Application Specialists, Metro Performance Glass, Dyer Decorating and Monarch Aluminium, for the aluminium joinery as well as the spectacular Mondrian front door.
