Eddie Van Uden: Three Kings, Hamon Avenue, Auckland

Eddie and Hillary van Uden renovated their ex-state 1950s home in Auckland in 2009 and turned the 87 square metre, brick and tile house into a 7 star, 140 square metre home. This process was no easy feat taking into consideration that state houses in NZ were built primarily for function and generally lacked comfort, insulation and sun orientation.

Eddie used his considerable skills as an architect know he had a great opportunity to showcase to others what could be done to improve the quality of any home in NZ, even an ‘ex-stater’.

Summary of the key features:

• North facing aspect of original home was a major attraction
• Recycled bricks from original house are a prominent feature of the finished home, being used for the paved driveway, garden paths and raised gardens
• Argon-filled, double glazed windows
• Rain water tanks incorporate detention for improved storm flow management – slowly releases most of the storm flow, thus prevents flooding the council system while retaining enough to service the home’s toilets and garden hose
• Even with a fully operational home office, the house uses an average of 10 kWh per day, less than half the average

Maintains 19-20 degrees on a sunny day in winter, without any heating.

It’s such a comfortable house. In summer, indoor temperatures stay below 25°C even when the outside temperature is 29°C plus. On sunny days in mid-winter, the living area temperature seldom drops below 20°C, even if it’s below 10°C outside. The house is much drier and there’s never any condensation on the windows