BUILDWICE

A home renovation and interior design company

Measuring the house

BUILDWICE

Measured twice,built once.

This is the house on the evening the family moved in. Scroll back to see it built, then spend their first day in it, room by room. Tap any gold marker for a size and a price.

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Step 1 of 4How it was built

Every wall, measured on site

We start with a site visit and laser measurements. The drawings are made from those numbers, not from the builder's brochure.

Step 2 of 4How it was built

Walls, floors and joinery

Civil work, flooring and carpentry go in to the approved drawings, in that order, on a schedule you agree before we start.

Step 3 of 4How it was built

Then the ceilings and the light

False ceilings go up on a steel grid and hide the wiring and AC. Coves, downlights and wall washers sit on separate circuits, so a room can be bright for work or low for the evening.

Step 4 of 4How it was built

Ready to move in

We clean, check every door and drawer, and hand over the keys with the drawings and warranties. The family moved in on a Saturday. This is that day.

Next: 2:30 pm, the front door

2:30 pmFoyer

The first time through the front door

Fluted white oak around an arched plaster alcove, with an oak mirror over a soft-edged console. Overhead, a domed recess with a brass edge holds three opal pendants.

4.4 × 5.0 m3.3 m ceiling

Next: 3:15 pm, the living room

3:15 pmLiving room

Afternoon light across the bouclé

A curved sofa in ivory bouclé faces a book-matched Nero Marquina media wall. Three brass rings hang over a travertine table, on Statuario marble and a wool rug.

8.8 × 7.0 m3.3 m ceiling

Next: look up

3:25 pmLiving room, looking up

The ceiling is half the room

Every room in this house has a false ceiling, drawn with the furniture rather than after it.

  1. 1
    Two tiers, 340 mm deep

    Gypsum on a galvanised steel grid, stepped so the middle of the room feels taller.

  2. 2
    A cove you never see

    A warm 2700 K strip tucked behind each lip, on its own dimmer.

  3. 3
    A floating walnut panel

    Fluted walnut held 50 mm off the slab and lit from behind. The chandelier hangs from it.

  4. 4
    Services out of sight

    AC ducts and wiring run above it. Only a slim linear grille shows.

Next: 4:30 pm, the dining room, under an oval cove

4:30 pmDining room

Tea for six, grandparents included

A Statuario table on fluted oak pedestals. Above it, a brass linear pendant hangs in an oval cove cut to the table's shape.

5.0 × 7.0 m3.3 m ceiling

Next: 5:40 pm, the kitchen

5:40 pmKitchen

Homework at the island, dinner on the hob

Navy lacquer cabinets without handles, a Statuario backsplash and a waterfall island that seats three. Profile lights set into the ceiling frame the island.

6.5 × 7.0 m3.3 m ceiling

Next: 6:30 pm, the bedroom

6:30 pmBedroom

Half an hour with the door closed

An upholstered wall runs behind the king bed, and a backlit walnut panel floats in the ceiling above it. Oak chevron underfoot, and a fluted oak wardrobe with a lit glass bay.

6.5 × 7.0 m3.3 m ceiling

Next: 7:50 pm, the kids' room

7:50 pmKids' room

A house of their own, inside the house

A solid oak house-frame bed under a string of lights, a study wall, low toy cubbies and a reading teepee. Now look at it again from their height.

6.0 × 7.0 m3.3 m ceiling

Next: the same room, from 90 cm up

8:05 pmKids' room, from 90 cm

Nothing in here has a sharp corner

We plan children's rooms from their eye level. Anything they can reach is rounded, low or fixed in place.

  1. 1
    A low bed

    The mattress top is 32 cm off the floor, so a roll out of bed is a short one.

  2. 2
    Rounded corners

    Desk, shelves and bed are cut to a 50 mm radius and sanded soft.

  3. 3
    Soft-close drawers

    They pull themselves shut slowly, so fingers don't get caught.

  4. 4
    Fixed to the wall

    Cubbies and shelves are anchored, so nothing tips if it's climbed.

Water-based, low-VOC paints and lacquers throughout

8:45 pmKids' room

Lights out, and the ceiling comes on

150 fibre-optic stars in a soft-cornered cove ceiling, on a timer. The cove dims to a glow, and the first day in the house is over.

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Room size

Indicative prices, excluding GST. We confirm the final quote after measuring your home.

Living room ₹0