AVONDALE STATE HOUSE Heritage Renovation & Contemporary Addition

The New Zealand state house is one of this country's most recognisable architectural forms — modest, honest, and quietly dignified. It doesn't ask for much. But in the right hands, it can give a great deal more.

When a creative couple approached Macfie Architecture with a vision to reimagine their Avondale state house, the brief was refreshingly direct: build something new that doesn't pretend to be old. A contemporary addition that stands in deliberate contrast to the original form, rather than mimicking it.

The new wing does exactly that — a stark, considered juxtaposition that makes the conversation between old and new the point of the design rather than something to be smoothed over. Inside, the layout was reconfigured to create an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen space that flows naturally between the original rooms and the new addition.

The bathroom and laundry were updated throughout, and an ensuite introduced to the master bedroom — practical upgrades handled with the same care as the more visible architectural gestures.

Original features were preserved throughout, the state house's honest character held intact even as the home grew around it.

The result is full of personality — a home that reflects the people who live in it, and wears its history and its ambitions with equal pride.

Project Scope - concept design, developed design, resource consent, building consent, on-site monitoring.

Photography by Tori Hayley