“Being a luxury home in New Zealand is so hard…”

Hello everyone, I'm a luxury home in New Zealand.

Mention luxury homes and people either turn green with envy or flock to them.

Add scenes from Hollywood blockbusters, and this is often the picture that comes to mind…

A luxury home in Hollywood, USA

A luxury home in Europe

 

Well, those are luxury homes elsewhere…

We luxury homes in New Zealand often look like this…

Or this…

Or perhaps this…

You might imagine us facing the sea, surrounded by spring blossoms,

but in reality, we're perched on hilltops, braving the wind and waves.

 Faced with New Zealand's weather—

clear blue skies one moment, wild wind and rain the next, then ice and snow—

we luxury homes really do have it tough!

People tend to be forgiving of ordinary standalone homes,

but their expectations of us luxury homes are extremely exacting.

So, to be a luxury home in New Zealand that meets expectations and lasts,

we must excel in every detail and withstand both public scrutiny and the test of time.

 

To achieve that,

we need the wholehearted support of our generous backers, the developers,

as well as the steady, diligent work of our builders,

and, above all, the person who gives me my soul, whom I want to talk about today:

the architectural designer.

A good architectural designer can give me exceptional looks

and carefully select a strong structural framework for me.

Architectural designer Terry Cheng of MOX Design has 15 years of industry experience. As MOX Design's design director, Terry has extensive experience designing luxury owner-occupied homes, medium-density residential investment developments and commercial property projects.

When discussing architectural design, Terry stresses that good design goes beyond creating an exterior that meets a client's aesthetic preferences. It requires consideration of many factors. Designing luxury homes in a country with New Zealand's varied climate and terrain particularly calls for an approach tailored to the site.

For example, many luxury homes occupy elevated sites, where soil conditions must be considered and overly heavy building materials avoided. When designing luxury homes by the sea, the aim is to maximise views while providing as much protection as possible from the sun and sea breezes.

Many luxury home clients also have distinctive requirements for both exteriors and interiors. Architectural designers must do their best to accommodate each client's individual aesthetic preferences in their designs.

For example, many people like the sophisticated look of dark exteriors and want dark colours on some or all of their exterior walls. But as I mentioned, New Zealand's sunshine is very strong, particularly during its frequently sunny summers. Dark colours absorb heat, so walls made from ordinary building materials may warp when heated, ultimately affecting the home's lifespan.

After weighing up the options, experienced architectural designer Terry Cheng therefore often chooses James Hardie fibre cement boards for luxury homes with dark colour schemes. Their performance is stable and they are less susceptible to weather conditions. Once painted, they offer a metallic sheen rather than the uneven finish of ordinary materials. James Hardie products also offer excellent fire resistance, sound insulation, waterproofing and moisture resistance.

Yes, being a luxury home in New Zealand takes more than good looks. Fortunately, we have architectural designers with excellent taste, extensive experience and dependable professional expertise. They always choose the best for us, such as James Hardie, a global leader in fibre cement products.

If you are considering building a luxury home, contact MOX Design to discuss your needs. If you are choosing exterior cladding materials, call the James Hardie sales team for more information or scan the code to follow James Hardie's official WeChat account!