Wanaka Wedge

What are your three favourite things in your home and why are they special to you?

Marc: The wedge shape of course and I include the courtyard and the laser cut out the architect designed I think that's extraordinary.It was the original architectural intention to have this idea of a ribbon going through defining public and private spaces using the wood, and also the berm as well. And the final thing is the shadow line, the negative detailing both up top and the curves and down at the floor and I think our plasterer is an absolute hero.

Justine: One of my things is definitely the floor, the way the concrete and the stones have brought so many colours with the golds especially. We're just going to constantly discover beautiful gems in the floor I think. I really love all the woodwork, secret panels, the secret door, so that aspect and the texture of it. In general the textures of the house is actually something that I love, the texture of the tiles in the bathrooms.

And then my third thing I think would be how living in the home we interact with the landscape outside. It's kind of unexpected I think, how wonderful that is and how the landscape is framed by the different windows - they're so whimsical.

What's your top tip for people wanting to build their own Grand Design?

Marc: Do your homework. Really analyse as many aspects of the building process as you can. Question what is the most effective way to achieve the results you want. I think that's really, really important.

Justine: Get lots of advice from different people. Different people will tell you different things and it's really important to know where you stand also, and why you're making the decisions you are. It's really important to choose the right people throughout the process.

Marc: We really relied on word of mouth. People saying 'this was a contractor worth using' or 'don't go about what you're trying to do this way, there's a better way of doing things'.

Your build's complete now, what's next? Do you have any new projects lined up?

Justine: Well for me the biggest change is being able to have my time back to be able to put back into other parts of our lives. I'm really looking forward to that to building up different parts of my profession, the next step in my career as a musician and a coach.

Marc: From my point of view it's inspiring to be able to study and work on what a music director does in such a space is absolutely a gift. There's a certain serenity here that was absent in the 1971 Zephyr.