An award-winning house in New Zealand with a New York loft vibe

In New Zealand, architect and designer Hayley Peterson has created a single-family home that combines industrial character, contemporary sophistication, and a meticulous selection of materials. The project, recognised with the Gold Award at the Master Builder House of the Year Awards, as well as being a regional winner and making it into the national Top 100, is an example of how design and technique can work in perfect harmony.

“I set out to design the house with a subtle New York loft vibe, while maintaining a modern and fresh feel,” explains Peterson. From the exterior, the house clearly reflects this intention: reclaimed brick on the main façade, references to industrial buildings, and an architectural language that avoids ornamentation to focus on materiality and proportions.

Inside, this aesthetic is reinforced with loft-style profiles in the windows of the double-height voids, a feature that is consistently repeated in other elements. “We used the same visual lines of the joinery in the sliding wardrobe doors in the bedrooms and also in the barn-style sliding glass door of the media room, adding a timeless, modern, and masculine character,” notes the designer. The door itself, along with its black steel rails, introduces a striking industrial chic accent.

The choice of DKTN was key to bringing this vision to life. “The ultra-compact surface was the perfect product to achieve this, as it offers an excellent colour range and highly versatile application options,” explains Peterson. Several colours and thicknesses were used in this project, tailored to different areas of the home.

For the main surfaces, the designer chose DKTN Entzo, drawn to its classic pattern and understated elegance. “I chose it for its marble-inspired veining, which pairs perfectly with the black joinery, copper fittings, and earthy tones of the wooden floor.” Its presence adds brightness and sophistication without disrupting the overall colour balance.

In contrast, for the worktops with greater visual impact, DKTN Domoos was used, “an elegant graphite black surface that delivers a strong visual impact with a modern and refined edge,” she notes.

“All the areas where the material was used required a durable product, resistant to heat and stains, which made DKTN the perfect choice,” says the architect.

The large formats available made it possible to address one of the project's main challenges: continuity. “The size of the DKTN slabs allowed us to minimise joints and achieve a seamless flow on worktops, splashbacks, and the cladding of the fireplace wall in the media room.” In the kitchen, the central island, with dimensions far exceeding standard sizes, could be executed without visible cuts, something that would not have been possible with other materials.

The variety of thicknesses was also crucial. “In the media room, we needed the material to match the thickness of the wooden slats while also being heat-resistant; whereas for the splashbacks and basins, it needed to be lighter and more durable.”

As for the colour, the choice was clear from the start. “I fell in love with DKTN Entzo; it’s an elegant, stylish, and timeless colour,” confesses Peterson. And about DKTN Domoos, she adds: “I wanted a black worktop, but I had always found them inconvenient because of fingerprints and watermarks. DKTN Domoos is perfect: its slightly textured matt black finish doesn’t show marks and always looks good without needing constant cleaning.”