Adding a dash of colour to Taupō
Holly Houndstooth talks design in her Taupō studio and factory. Photo: Dan Hutchinson
Houndstooth Interiors is starting to create a few ripples in the national design scene, making the finals of the recent Designers Institute of New Zealand Best Design awards.
By Dan Hutchinson
Last year’s Stella Awards Solo Entrepreneur of the Year, Holly Houndstooth was so surprised, she cried when making the finals in the Spatial Colour category.
She didn’t win, but the other nine finalists in that category included such projects as the L'Oreal fit out in Auckland, BNZ’s head office in Auckland and part of the Auckland Airport rebuild.
Not bad for a boutique design company from Taupō.
Her project was tiny by comparison – a residential kitchen project in Hawkes Bay called Spice Riot.
“I actually just cried when I found out that we were in there, because I couldn't believe it, you know, I thought it was a mistake.”
Holly is full of passion for her work and can’t express her thoughts fast enough when talking design.
She has a small factory at Totara St where a lot of the materials come from for her designs, something she says is a real point of difference.
Recently, she and her partner Brett Cameron started a drapery business, once again making their own products and providing a consulting and design service alongside it.
She is working on about 20 residential builds at present, and three commercial ones, including Starlight Cinema.
Without giving too much away, she says the cinema will have a lot of colour, texture and wallpaper on the interior to create the wow factor, but the exterior is where the real creative challenge lies.
“The exterior is a beast, you know, it looks like a vet clinic.”
One of the most hotly anticipated projects in Taupō at present, she hopes the cinema will be one of many iconic commercial undertakings.
She is certainly doing her bit to bring some designer flair to Taupō’s residential architecture, and that comes with its challenges.
Designers like to “communicate with the architecture” when it comes to renovating and modernising older houses.
“But we don't have any history with the architecture. Everything was built around the same kind of time.”
The other problem in Taupō is that many houses started off as baches.
“Classic Taupō is … everyone would come back… Labour Weekend or things like that, and they'd do a little bit more or they'll chuck something up and then everything was kind of added onto. So, most of the properties here all started small and they got bigger and bigger and bigger.”
She has gained a reputation for bold use of colour, texture and storytelling through interiors, with both new builds and renovations.
Her key to business success is to do the design herself, and the client-facing stuff. Everything else is subcontracted out.
As a result, she has gathered a lot of contacts with local craftspeople and artisans and other creative people in Taupō and surrounding districts.