This home reno did more than knock down walls — it gave one man his independence back

Wednesday, 24 June 2026

Andrew McMillan and Inda Yansané's West Auckland home renovation won two honours at the Auckland Architecture Awards.

Musician McMillan is tetraplegic and uses a wheelchair following a BMX accident, requiring specific accessibility needs for his home.

Architect Cécile Bonnifait transformed a two-bedroom suburban house into a four-bedroom accessible home.

It can take months, maybe even years, to find the perfect place to live. All those open homes, hours poring over newspaper supplements and endless scrolling through online listings.

But the search becomes far more complicated when you have very specific needs.

Andrew McMillan was one such house hunter. Looking for a home for himself and his then-partner, now wife, Inda Yansané, he quickly discovered the perfect property simply didn't exist.

McMillan, a musician, is tetraplegic and uses a wheelchair following a BMX accident.

After an exhaustive search, the couple found a property in West Auckland and enlisted their friend, architect Cécile Bonnifait, to help transform a fairly standard two-bedroom suburban house into a four-bedroom home tailored to their lives.

The project's success was recognised last week when it picked up two honours at the Auckland Architecture Awards, winning in the Housing – Alterations and Additions and Resene Colour categories.

The judges said the designers had approached the project with 'creativity, care, and strong attention to detail'.

'Every threshold, material choice, and spatial decision has been carefully considered to support independence and improve everyday life. Small moments of colour and warmth bring personality into the home while reinforcing dignity and comfort.

“Though modest in scale, the project demonstrates the powerful impact thoughtful architecture can have on the lives of the people it serves. Small in scale, immeasurable in impact.'

For McMillan, the architectural recognition came as a shock.

'It was really unexpected, to be honest.'

The build, which took nearly a year, was complex, says Bonnifait, co-director of Wellington's Bonnifait + Associates Architects.

Not only did the house need to function for the couple's day-to-day lives, it also had to accommodate a 24-hour on-call nurse and a specialised lift imported from Sweden. On top of that, ACC, which contributed to the project's funding, needed to sign off on the design and specifications.

'All decision making was going through ACC, so they could actually verify that we were not overdoing it. They had to accept the design and specification. Everything was done to a certain minimum, knowing that we didn't compromise on standard,' says Bonnifait.

There were also hurdles along the way, including the property being a cross-lease, consent issues and drainage concerns. Those have since been resolved.

The first night was a bit of a let-down, remembers McMillan. The builders were still working away, it was the coldest day of the year, and they couldn't use the fireplace.

'We got in there, and there were boxes everywhere. It was just a bit of a shock. I'm one of these people that's not very good with change, so it should have been this most amazing and awesome experience, but it just felt like hard work.'

Luckily, those feelings were only temporary.

'The house has changed my independence. I'm able to get around and do all these things on my own, get from room to room and kill the lights, which is amazing.'

He adds that the simple task of getting in and out of the house with ease is something many people simply take for granted.

Practicality drove almost every design decision.

McMillan's bedroom occupies what was once the garage, allowing him to be evacuated quickly in an emergency.

'We had to remodel the access so a van can be parked in the front of the house, and then we've got big slider, so we can slide the bed out of the room into the van,' adds Bonnifait.

'Everything has to be extremely pragmatic.'

While McMillan remains coy about divulging the exact cost of the extensive renovations, he describes the budget as modest, noting that the Swedish lift was the clear big-ticket item.

One of the home's standout features wasn't even part of the original plan.

A change to building regulations during the design phase meant a section originally intended to form part of the living room had to be redesigned, ultimately creating a first-floor balcony.

'Honestly, without that balcony, it would be a different house. The balcony is amazing,' says McMillan.

Bonnifait agrees, calling it a “happy accident”.

'I think one of the successes of the project for him is to be at the level of the canopy like that. That hasn’t happened to him for 20 years.'

As for the vibrant pops of colour that caught the judges' eyes, McMillan laughs and points the finger directly at his wife for the 'chromatic choices.'

'If it was left to me, it would have been boring.'

One of the project's successes is the creation of different spaces that allow all members of the household to enjoy privacy. McMillan has his dedicated workspace, Yansané has her own private retreat, the nurse has a self-contained zone, and there is a spare bedroom reserved for Yansané's mother when she visits.

Ultimately, the home manages to be completely practical and simple without ever losing its warmth, says Bonnifait.

'If you look at any accessible equipment, it's always with a medical feel - something that tells you, 'oh, somebody different is living here', which is not what you feel when you get into that house.'

Both McMillan and Bonnifait hope the project will encourage developers to think more seriously about accessibility when designing new housing.

'It would be wise when there is a certain number of houses being built in a development to have a portion, and it can be just one or two, to be fully accessible, and that will make a big difference,“ says Bonnifait.

For McMillan, it was an incredibly long wait for the right home, but the freedom it has unlocked makes it worth every obstacle.

'I'm a very lucky person to be in this position with the support we've had to get into this place.

'So many others are making do with what's possible, and that's probably the barest essentials, and sometimes not even that.'