Feature article
Alex and Corban Walls’ timeless Whananaki bach
Full of significance and ambitious design.

AI summary
Alex and Corban Walls have transformed their Whananaki bach, a relocated car showroom they first updated a decade ago. After years of use as a family retreat and Airbnb, the couple undertook a major renovation to create a more durable and luxurious space.
The new design features a timeless, mid-century aesthetic with a focus on hard-wearing materials like brick facings, porcelain benchtops, and hardened timber floors. The project has evolved the bach into a refined coastal retreat for their family.
Alex and Corban have given their 12-year-old bach a refresh from the ground up. Parky, a European hardened timber from Flooring Xtra, was the starting point for a textural material palette that stands up to family life at the beach, while also giving the interior a serious glow-up to reflect how the couple’s tastes have grown up.
Gathering around the table for meals is a big part of how Alex likes to host at the bach, so the couple updated their dining situation with a table that Corban made. The top is French oak from South Pacific Timber and the base is recycled cardboard cores painted in Dulux Frankton, with Città dining chairs. Behind, a chair from Vitrine, Hour Phila table lamp by Snelling Studio and artwork by Te Tai Tokerau artist Pauline Yearbury make a pleasing vignette against the Viblock brick-work.
Drawing on a mid-century aesthetic, Alex chose Viblock bricks for the wall linings. The Kawarau brick in Crawford is a defining backdrop to furnishings in rich earthy hues including an Hour Agathis floor lamp by Snelling Studio, 1977 sofa from King Living, a coffee table from the 1970s and Unplugged Checkers rug by Nodi.
Each of the six bedrooms was given its own colour story with paint from Dulux that played into Alex’s overall scheme where neutrals, rusty hues and green rule supreme. Bunks made by Corban also feature Dehei’s jersey cotton, with Città blankets, a lamp from Father Rabbit and stool from Soren Liv.
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