Auckland based building company VDA Construction has forged a reputation for completing builds of quality and distinction in some of the city’s most prestigious neighbourhoods.
Two recent projects demonstrate the company’s ability to construct projects from traditional to upmarket contemporary.
A project at 35 Bell Road in Remuera saw a house that was over 100 years old and listed with the Historic Places Trust restored and transformed.
Due to the historic nature of the home the outside of the house had to be kept the same, which involved replicating items to restore it.
A new double garage was built to match the era of the home. All the piles were replaced and a great deal of the flooring. Every frame in the house was rebuilt.
“Basically there was not a single part of the house we didn’t touch,” says VDA Construction owner Mark Van den Anker.
Inside features such architraves, scotias and skirtings were lovingly crafted by Mark and his team from photographs the owners had brought back from Italy.
Items such as fireplaces were also purchased overseas and the VDA team then build the surrounds to match.
VDA Construction offered a turnkey solution including laying Italian wallpaper and matching curtains and completing the tiling.
Every item in the home was unique and often handmade to match the design aesthetic and also make the home practical to live in.
For example glass in the bedroom and bathroom french doors was mirrored to give privacy. It was the high level of thought and attention to detail that resulted in the stunning and distinctive home.
Due to the historic nature of the home, the outside of the house had to be kept the same. All the piles were replaced and every frame rebuilt.
The client’s had subdivided their section and the VDA Construction team also built a brand new home at 37 Bell Road. Designed by Kamerma ns Architects, the two story home floats on the site.
The VDA Construction team firstly inserted fifteen 600mm concrete piles to a depth of 7-8 metres to stabilise the home at 35 Bell Road before commencing the new build.
The approximately 270 square metre home includes three bedrooms, including a master bedroom with ensuire, bathroom and home theatre downstairs.
Upstairs is the office, dining, kitchen and lounge areas, a double garage and laundry. Clad in rusticated weatherboard the home has American oak flooring and beech ceilings inside.
The VDA Construction team’s talent for hand crafting items was seen again in the beech lighting in the bathroom.
Mark says the design was complex due to its sloping roof and the interesting angles of the building. In order to achieve this steel beams anchored to steel in the concrete foundation were used. The second floor of the building is solid concrete.
“Getting the beams and everything exactly right was essential. “We had to calculate carefully and work closely with the engineer,” explains Mark.
The kitchen won a highly commended award at Trends due to the high levels of craftsmanship, he says. The kitchen includes floating beech shelving with recessed lighting.
VDA Construction focuses on high-end new homes, renovations, reclads and commercial projects in Auckland.
Mark started building straight out of school and now brings over 40 years of both New Zealand based and international building experience to his clients including completion of projects based in London and Papua New Guinea.
Mark is a fully qualified builder and a Licensed Building Practitioner in the categories of Site 1 and Site 2.
This means that Mark is qualified to construct category 1,2 and 3 buildings, which includes single household dwellings up to complex multistorey commercial buildings.
“These projects in Bell Road really show that at VDA Construction we can build anything.”
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The restoration of this historic home in Remuera included crafting skirtings, scotias and architraves from photographs and
laying Italian wallpaper.
