Torbay, North Shore — Auckland
Contemporary Ensuite Renovation
in Torbay, North Shore
Two matched ensuites in tones of moody grey, dark oak and chrome
Completed December 2024
RENOVATION
Designed By
Cici Zuo
Lead Consultant and Designer
cici@superiorrenovations.co.nz
0800 199 888
Quick answer: This contemporary ensuite renovation in Torbay turned two dated ground-floor ensuites into a matched pair — matte grey porcelain, dark oak vanities, chrome tapware, and an open glass wet area in the larger room.
| Location | Torbay, North Shore — Auckland |
| Completed | December 2024 |
| Scope | Two ground-floor ensuites — design, demolition, all trades, fittings and full project management |
| Designer | Cici Zuo, Lead Consultant and Designer |
| Project type | Owner-occupier |
Inside a Contemporary Ensuite Renovation in Torbay
The rest of this Torbay home had already been brought up to date — modern kitchen, modern living, the lot. The two ground-floor ensuites hadn’t moved on. They were the last rooms still stuck a couple of decades back, and it showed.
Kevin put it more bluntly than we would have.
“You’ve got a modern kitchen, you’ve got a modern house — and your bathroom looks 25 years old.”
— Kevin, Torbay
What they were after
Kevin and his partner didn’t arrive with a fixed look in mind. They wanted options put in front of them, and a starting point. The one thing they were clear on: nothing standard, and nothing too grand either. Something with a bit of design to it that still felt like a family bathroom.
Choosing Superior Renovations
They talked to a few companies. Ours wasn’t the cheapest quote on the table — and they told us so.
“We got quotes from a couple of other companies, and yours was slightly higher. We chose you because of Cici. She gave us great advice on functionality and design, she was straightforward, and everything felt transparent.”
— Kevin, Torbay
That advice came out of our in-house Design Studio, where the design and the build sit under one roof — so what gets drawn is what actually gets built.
When Something Wasn’t Right
No renovation runs perfectly start to finish, and this one didn’t either. Partway through, Kevin noticed a couple of things that weren’t up to standard — some of the tiling, and a vanity.
He flagged them with Jacob, our project manager. Jacob was on site to look at them, and had the team back the next day to put them right. That’s the part that matters. Issues come up on a build; getting them sorted quickly, without an argument, is what tells you who you’re working with.
The Brief — Contemporary, Understated, Built Around Space
After the design consultation, Kevin and his partner settled on a contemporary look that stayed understated. No loud feature walls, no statement colour — the interest comes from texture and restraint instead.
The larger of the two ensuites had room to play with. We built an open wet area with a bath and an open shower, separated from the rest of the room by a single sheet of frameless glass — no door. It keeps the water where it belongs without chopping the room into compartments, so the whole space reads as one.
Large matte porcelain tiles in a subtle grey run across the walls and floors. The vanities are a dark Southern Oak, set against a white benchtop so the timber doesn’t get lost. The shine comes from chrome tapware — just enough to give the grey some depth.
“We took the door off the shower and ran a single sheet of frameless glass, so the eye carries straight through to the far wall. In a wet area, that’s what makes a bathroom feel bigger than its actual footprint.”
— Cici Zuo, Lead Consultant and Designer, Superior Renovations
The Larger Ground-Floor Ensuite
The larger ground-floor ensuite carries the full scheme — bath, open shower, a double vanity and the moody grey palette right through.
Wall and floor tiles
- Glazed porcelain, matte finish, 600×600, subtle grey — from Tile Depot, run across walls and floors
Vanity and mirror
- 1200 double-height vanity, Southern Oak, stone-cast — Reece
- Coral Beaded round vessel basin, gloss white — Reece
- Broadway 1200 LED demister mirror — Reece
- Aleo wall-mount basin mixer — Reece
Bath, shower and toilet
- Charlton 1700 back-to-wall bath, white — Reece
- Aleo wall-mount bath mixer — Reece
- Aleo dual shower column, exposed valve — Reece
- Evora II back-to-wall toilet suite — Reece
- Mizu Drift toilet roll holder and pop-up waste — Reece
Other
- Evoke round heated ladder rail, 800×600, chrome — Reece
- Underfloor heating
The Second Ensuite
The second ensuite is the smaller of the two, with no room for a bath. So it gets a vanity, a toilet and a custom diamond-shaped shower tucked into the corner, with a tiled niche built into the wall for storage. Everything else matches the larger room — same tile, same Southern Oak, same chrome — so the two read as a pair.
Wall and floor tiles
- Glazed porcelain, matte finish, 600×600 — Tile Depot, the same tile used in the larger ensuite
Vanity and mirror
- 900 arc wall-hung double-height vanity, Southern Oak, stone-cast — Reece
- Broadway 750 LED demister mirror — Reece
- Aleo wall-mount basin mixer — Reece
Shower
- Aleo dual shower column, exposed valve — Reece
- Custom diamond-shaped shower with a tiled storage niche
- Underfloor heating
Why Torbay Bathrooms Often Reach This Point
Torbay sits up in the East Coast Bays, on Auckland’s North Shore. A good slice of the suburb went up through the 1970s, which means plenty of local homes are now a generation or two on from their original bathrooms — exactly the gap Kevin described between a modern house and a 25-year-old ensuite.
Coastal Shore homes get worked hard by the weather too, so a renovation is the chance to put in finishes and waterproofing built to last. Our showroom is at 16B Link Drive, Wairau Valley — a short run down the motorway from Torbay — so it’s easy to come in, see the materials in person and sit down with the design team.
What a Renovation Like This Costs in Auckland
Every bathroom is priced to its own scope — the size of the room, the materials, and how much structural and waterproofing work sits behind the walls all move the number. An open wet area with frameless glass and underfloor heating, like the larger ensuite here, costs more than a straight like-for-like refit. Rather than put up a figure that won’t match your home, use our bathroom renovation cost calculator to get a realistic Auckland estimate for your own project.
💡 Quick tip: In a room like this the frameless glass and the open wet area are where a lot of the cost sits — the glass and the waterproofing detailing behind it, not the tiles themselves.
In the Owners’ Words
We asked Kevin about working with the team across the whole job.
“Jacob, our site manager, was lovely. He came to check every time, and we were happy with both our foremen. He’s relationship-oriented — we were thankful and impressed. We’ll miss him and get him round for a coffee after all this. The workers were great too: they came on site, did their work, and were very respectful.”
— Kevin, Torbay
The Result
Two tired ground-floor ensuites, now a matched contemporary pair — calm, grey, and built to last. The larger room got the bath and the open shower; the smaller one got the same finish in a tighter footprint. Same house, two rooms that finally match the rest of it.
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Torbay Ensuite Renovation — FAQ
What does a contemporary ensuite renovation in Torbay involve?
For this Torbay project it meant stripping out two dated ground-floor ensuites and rebuilding them as a matched pair. Matte grey 600x600 porcelain on the walls and floors, dark Southern Oak vanities against a white benchtop, chrome tapware, and an open glass wet area in the larger room. Design, demolition, every trade, the fittings and full project management were all handled in-house.
How were the two ensuites kept feeling cohesive?
We used the same materials in both rooms — the same porcelain tile, the same Southern Oak vanities and the same chrome tapware. The smaller ensuite simply leaves out the bath and runs a more compact vanity. Same design language, two different footprints, so the rooms read as a set rather than two separate jobs.
What tiles were used in these Torbay ensuites?
Glazed porcelain in a matte finish, 600x600, in a subtle grey, supplied by Tile Depot. They run across both the walls and the floors in each ensuite, which keeps the look calm and makes the spaces feel larger than hard colour contrasts would.
Can you fit a bath and a separate shower in one ensuite?
Yes — the larger ground-floor ensuite has both. We set a 1700 back-to-wall bath alongside an open wet shower area, separated from the rest of the room by a single sheet of frameless glass with no door. That keeps the water contained while letting the eye carry straight through, so the room feels open rather than boxed in.
What vanities and tapware were specified?
Both rooms use Southern Oak stone-cast vanities from Reece — a 1200 double-height unit in the larger ensuite and a 900 arc wall-hung unit in the smaller one — each paired with a Broadway LED demister mirror. Tapware is the Aleo range in chrome, with Mizu accessories. The dark oak against the white benchtop and chrome is what gives the rooms their depth.
Was underfloor heating included?
Yes. Underfloor heating was laid in as part of the build, which on the North Shore makes a real difference through winter — a tiled bathroom floor is cold first thing otherwise. It is far easier to add during a full renovation than to retrofit later.
How much does a bathroom renovation in Torbay cost?
There is no single figure — the cost moves with the size of the room, the materials, and how much structural and waterproofing work is involved. An open wet area with frameless glass and underfloor heating sits above a straightforward refit. The honest way to get a number for your own home is our bathroom renovation cost calculator, which gives a realistic Auckland range.
What happens if a workmanship issue comes up mid-build?
It gets fixed. On this project the owners flagged a couple of issues with tiling and a vanity partway through. Our project manager, Jacob, was on site to inspect them and had the right team back the next day to put them right. No renovation is completely smooth — what matters is how quickly things get sorted when they come up.
Further Resources
- More completed Auckland renovation projects
- Real client stories from across Auckland
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