Evolutionary

Beneath the humble hip roof of this railway cottage, there’s a lot of thought. Architect Ben Daly and his wife Dulia bought it unexpectedly in a rural valley north-west of Napier in New Zealand – “Dulia insisted we drive out to the countryside; we didn’t think much of the home when we first saw it” – and only paused for a two-minute consideration before they put in an offer. The minute they owned it, Ben’s mind began ticking over.

He thought not about how to ‘renovate’ the 80-square-metre Hawke’s Bay home they’d bought for less than $200