New Zealand Villa — Basement Cinema, Gym & Wine Cellar

The Challenge

This home has to do two very different things at once — be a proper basement entertainment suite, and stay calm, bright and quiet on the living levels above.

The brief combined a full basement recreation level — home cinema, gym, sauna and a wine cellar — with a ground floor of open living, dining and kitchen, and a top floor of three bedrooms with a master wing. The challenge was to make the below-grade level feel premium and comfortable, with real acoustic and lighting control for the cinema, while keeping the ground and top floors light, warm and quiet for everyday family life.

The client also wanted one continuous material story across all three levels — honed marble, warm wood slats and soft neutrals — so the basement reads as part of the same home, not a separate entertainment room tacked on below.

• A below-grade cinema with proper lighting and acoustic control
• Gym, sauna and wine cellar working together as one entertainment level
• A bright, open ground floor that stays quiet for family life
• One marble-and-wood palette carried across all three levels

Floor Plan Analysis

The villa is organised as three distinct levels: a full basement entertainment suite, a bright ground floor of living and dining, and a private top floor of bedrooms.

The basement is the entertainment level: a home cinema with a star-lit ceiling, a gym with cardio equipment, a wood-lined sauna, a back-lit wine cellar and a marble entertainment room, plus a second living and dining zone with a linear fireplace.

The ground floor is the family level: an entrance hall with a floating timber stair, a bright foyer, a main living room with a linear fireplace, an open kitchen-and-dining zone and a formal dining room with a marble feature wall. The top floor is the private wing — three bedrooms, each calm and light, with the master suite opening onto a walk-in and a full en-suite.

Room-by-Room Solution

Entrance Hall

The entrance hall is where the home’s lightness starts. A glass balustrade keeps the sightline open, a warm wood feature wall adds calm, and the hall reads straight through to the living level, so the first impression is depth and daylight rather than a closed corridor.

Living

The main living room is the social heart of the ground floor. A linear fireplace set into a stone media wall anchors the seating, and a sculptural chandelier and soft sectional keep the room generous and relaxed, with the full material story — marble, warm wood and soft neutrals — already established.

Kitchen & Dining

The kitchen and dining sit open to the living room. A generous stone island and a full run of handle-less cabinetry keep the working side clean, while a chandelier over the dining table marks the transition from cooking to eating in one continuous, bright space.

Home Cinema

The cinema is the centrepiece of the basement level. A star-lit ceiling, a large screen and layered lounge seating, with lighting and acoustic control tuned for the room, make it a proper private theatre rather than a TV in a dark room.

Gym

The gym sits on the entertainment level beside the cinema. A light stone floor, mirrored wall and space for cardio equipment keep it bright and functional, so the basement reads as a well-finished recreation suite rather than a utility space.

Sauna & Spa

The sauna is the quiet end of the entertainment level. Warm wood lining, layered benches and soft lighting make it a proper spa room, and it pairs naturally with the gym and cinema for a full recovery and recreation circuit.

Wine Cellar

The wine cellar is built as a display space, not just storage. Full-height racking with back-lit shelving and a central display island let the collection be seen, and the room sits off the basement living zone so it works during entertaining.

Master Bedroom

The master suite is the calm centrepiece of the top floor. A full-height wood-slat feature wall frames the bed, a chandelier and a bench at the foot of the bed give the room a relaxed, hotel-like feel, and the walk-in and en-suite sit just behind.

Material & Finish Direction

One continuous palette runs through all three levels, so the basement reads as part of the same home as the bedrooms above. The base is honed light marble and warm wood joinery — the same stone in the entrance, the living and the gym, and the same wood slats in the bedrooms and the sauna.

Finishes stay matte and tactile — matte-lacquered fronts, honed marble, warm timber and brushed hardware — with the star-lit cinema ceiling and the back-lit wine cellar as the two deliberate moments of drama in an otherwise calm, light scheme.

Production & Export

The entire villa was built in our Foshan factory and shipped as a flat-packed, numbered set — the same process we use for every export project.

Frequently Asked Questions

Around the Villa

More views from the completed New Zealand project — the basement floor plan, the entrance foyer, the floating stair, the formal dining room and the remaining bedrooms.

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