Okareka Lockwood Reno

About the project

Working in a Lockwood is a different proposition to a conventional timber-framed house. The solid interlocking timber system means you can't just open walls or reconfigure freely — every move needs to work with the structure rather than against it. The existing Lockwood boards were retained and kept for re-use throughout, preserving the material character that defines these homes while everything around them was updated.

The biggest decision on this job was the roof. Rather than strip the existing Lockwood framing and start again, we specified Metalcraft Aspirespan insulated roofing panels — a 150mm R7.01 insulated panel system laid directly over the existing structure with new purlins fixed carefully through the middle third of each Lockwood rafter to avoid splitting. It gave the home a properly insulated roof in a fraction of the time and cost of a full re-roof, and the warm timber ceiling beneath reads exactly as it always has.

The kitchen was relocated and cantilevered to create a better connection between cooking and dining. A fluted island base with a solid timber benchtop anchors the space, with cream flat-panel cabinetry and an open pantry wall framed in timber running full height to the raked ceiling. The Lockwood walls and ceiling do the heavy lifting aesthetically — the fitout stays calm and lets the timber speak.