This compact, cedar-clad house is located on a steep site in Arrowtown with spectacular views of The Remarkables and The Hills Golf Course.

Designed by Hofmans Architects, the classic modernist box has a trapezoidal roof and walls, creating beautiful folds in the elevation and roof plane. A warm walnut stain to the cedar harmonises with a rusty red corten steel-clad basement; the lightweight timber offset by the weight and mass of the steel base.

Contrasting with the warm and earthy exterior, the soft grey walls and floors of the interior are set off by a large, black PlyPlay feature wall.

Wrapping the kitchen, laundry and kids’ bedrooms, it creates a striking feature through the living room, entrance and TV room. This design detail emphasises the space planning and provides a robust wall and door surface which kids constantly scuff past.

Interior designer Stuart Bateman specified PlyPlay Double Trouble — a prefinished 12mm class I (BD) pine plywood with a satin, black stain finish. The design brief was for neutral and natural tones, but with some fun and quirky elements.

Bateman has contrasted the black plywood wall with a Melamine kitchen in three different tones. This visually breaks the joinery into smaller elements, as well as reducing the scale of the kitchen overall.

Builder Myles Herschell of MWH Construction said PlyPlay was easy to work with on the project and very stable during the storage time on-site.

"For the corner finishing, we cut a 45-degree bevel on a slide saw to get mitred edges," says Herschell, "then we sanded and stained the edges. We glued and clamped the corners, applying expanding Gorilla Glue so we could knock off any excess glue after it set to get a neat, clean line."

In addition to wall lining, PlyPlay was used to build a TV cabinet and built-in seat (doubling as storage) in an alcove near the front door.