WATCH TOWER

There’s a secret set of stairs in this seaside home that leads right up to the roof. In a three-storey house conceived by Weir Architecture’s Robert Weir as a tower reminiscent of a lifeguard station, the pull-down steps concealed in the upper-floor ceiling transport its surfie inhabitants to the very top, so they can see what’s up with the waves.

For their second build in Waimairi Beach, the Christchurch suburb they’ve called home for 22 years, Jo and Blaise