A Queenstown home made with materials evoking a shearing shed has taken a trifecta of national accolades at this year’s House of the Year Awards.
Velvin Building was named the winner of the national supreme house of the year over $1 million award at the 2025 Master Builders House of the Year Awards for its work on the “Covered Yards” property in Kelvin Heights.
The 450sqm, three-storey, five-bedroom home also won the national kitchen excellence award and topped the national new home $2m-$4m category, as well as winning five regional awards.
Velvin Building owner and director Joe Velvin-Turner said the results were “mind-blowing” and were yet to sink in.
“It’s a real privilege to be able to build these beautiful homes and build people’s dreams for them.”
Having won last year’s supreme renovation of the year award for its traditional A-frame house in Frankton, it felt “really special” to be recognised with award-winning projects two years in a row, Mr Velvin-Turner said.
“I don’t often walk around other builds and compare myself to others, so it does feel quite fulfilling to know that you’re doing the right thing and you’re on the right track.”
Mr Velvin-Turner said the home “looks like a mysterious sort of shed structure from the road”.
“And then once you’re inside of it, it completely changes.”
It featured timber floors, walls, doors and ceilings crafted from locally sourced beech, along with recycled Australian hardwoods on the cladding, soffits and rain screens.
Timber batten, which would be seen on the open floor of a shearing shed, had been reversed on to the house’s ceiling, Mr Velvin-Turner said.
“That texture that you’d have in a shed, it’s sort of got that similar texture in the interior design with the use of timber.”
Some of his favourite things about the property were the way it hung over Lake Wakatipu and the sounds of the lake lapping against the shore.
The space was “really quite peaceful and tranquil” and had been an amazing place to go to work every day, he said.
Master Builders chief executive Ankit Sharma said the home was “an exceptional example” of what could be achieved when craftsmanship and vision aligned.
“It demonstrates the calibre of skill, precision and pride that defines our members and why New Zealand continues to set the standard for residential construction excellence.”
Howe Construction’s renovation of a Queenstown home earned the company this year’s national supreme renovation of the year award and the national renovation over $2m category award.
The 380sqm, two-storey, five-bedroom and four-bathroom penthouse featured a hemlock-timber sauna, media room, powder room and a terrace with a louvre roof and outdoor kitchen.
