They say all good things take time. For Brian Gray and his family, it’s taken almost 15 years to build their dream holiday home, but the result has been well worth the wait.

Perched high on a ridge between Leigh and Pakiri, north of Auckland, the Gray family’s piece of land has been slowly but surely transformed from a miniature pine forest into their home away from home. As Brian explains, it was important to the family that the design of the home was completely different to their townhouse. “When we go on holiday, we want everything to be different, not just where we are.”

It also needed to be strong enough to withstand the weather conditions that come with being so close to the clouds. Brian explains: “As the property is high up on a ridge, we needed a product that could stand the test of time against weather elements like strong winds. We also wanted to create something that was unique in design — bold yet simple, with a rugged, natural finish — something that complemented the beauty of the north-to-south ocean views.”

Structurally sound, aesthetically pleasing

Brian worked with builder Kevin Lawton to create a stunningly minimalistic yet warm home, with external metal framing and a plywood interior. Plywood was chosen because of its stark contrast to the plasterboard the Grays are used to at home.

To bring the design to life, Kevin used a mix of I-Built’s 2.4 and 2.7m radiata structural plywood, which is naturally durable and harder wearing for the home’s wall linings, ceilings, bunk beds and bespoke cabinetry.

Brian liked the earthiness of the plywood, so each plywood sheet was carefully selected for its natural characteristics, imperfections and all.

Easy to use with seamless results

IBuilt has a large range of specialty plywood products from structural building grades to high quality hardwood ply to suit all exterior use and interior visual applications. This, amongst many reasons, was why Brian chose to use IBuilt products for his project.

“The product was an easy and fast solution, and it was great to be able to make two orders and receive matching product.” Brian’s ply was supplied by the local ITM in Matakana, a long and valued supplier of IBuilt’s Plywood to the local community.

The Gray family will have to wait a little longer before they can spend quality time together in their new holiday home — the property is being rented out over the winter — but they’re happy to wait knowing how great the place has turned out.

“We’re extremely pleased with the finished look, and couldn’t have asked for an easier team to work with,” says Brian.