At Titahi Bay Beach House, the renovation is as much about levels as it is about layout. The existing kitchen and laundry floors and the lean-to roof needed adjustment to support the way the owners wanted to use the house.

The brief brought together three bedrooms, two study spaces and a more connected setting for shared life. Beach views and access to a deck were central to the opportunity, but opening the living areas also needed to be balanced with privacy elsewhere in the home.

Modal Architecture reorganised the existing footprint around a combined kitchen, dining and living space. Generous glazing and doors give this part of the house a direct relationship with the deck and beach outlook. The common rooms are planned together, allowing the landscape-facing side to become a shared place rather than a collection of disconnected functions.

The renovation raised the kitchen and laundry floor level and removed the lean-to roof to create greater head height. These changes address the physical constraints of the existing building alongside the room arrangement. A better plan depends on the spaces working in section as well as on the page.

Bedrooms are moved towards the rear to provide privacy, with a walk-in wardrobe and ensuite forming part of the main suite. Two studies make provision for working from home alongside the shared and private accommodation.

The completed renovation gives the owners a three-bedroom home that makes fuller use of its current footprint and coastal setting. Shared life can face the beach, while bedrooms and workspaces support other activities within the same house. Resolving the floor and roof levels is what helps bring those different uses into a workable whole.