The North Shore renovation question

There's a conversation happening in living rooms across Devonport, Takapuna, and Birkenhead right now. It goes something like: "Do we renovate or move somewhere else?"

It's a genuinely hard question. The answer depends on the bones of the house, what the council will let you do, what the site offers that the current layout ignores, and honestly, what you can afford.

Here's how I think about it. If the roof and foundations are sound, if the rooms have good proportions, and if the house has character worth keeping, renovation almost always wins. You get something a new build can't replicate: patina, texture, established gardens, and the feeling of a place that's been lived in. 

The biggest driver is staying in the same school zone or staying with the same house that you've lived in all these years. And you don't have to give these up. Often my clients will want a change but they just don't know what needs changing, just that change is needed. That is where I come in and the results often surprise people. 

Our Auckland studio has a lot of familiarity through the north shore suburbs and if you're weighing up the renovation question, a conversation with an architectural designer early on can save you months of indecision. Initial conversations are free and no obligation.