Summerset Waikanae had Litchfield and Fields create a model of their future village

In front of a scale model of the Summerset Waikanae village is Summerset Group sales manager Cherie Adams, left, modellers Stuart Fields and Mark Lewis, and Summerset Waikanae sales manager Anna Nankivell. Photo / David Haxton

With the much-anticipated arrival of the Summerset Waikanae retirement village approaching, the sales team had a 3D scale model built of the village – and it was a hit.

The village, which will be located at 28 Park Ave in Waikanae, expects to have 217 independent living units built, ranging from villas to cottages and several serviced apartments for those who need a bit more care.

The 3D model showcases all of this and even features trees and hand-painted cars which help with scale.

The model was made by a pair of model makers from the architectural model-making company Litchfield and Fields.

The pair were business owner Stuart Fields and one of his employees, Mark Lewis.

Fields has done work on and off for Summerset for about eight years – in fact, he said they helped save his business during Covid when there wasn’t a lot of work.

When the Summerset team approached Fields to ask him to make a model of their Waikanae Village, he said it was especially close to his heart since he lived and worked across the road from the site.

He said it took them about two and a half months to make the model as they were constantly being fed more information about what to add.

The model of Summerset Waikanae was created using a variety of different architectural methods like traditional hand painting, laser cutting, and 3D printing – all done from Fields’ Waikanae home and workplace.

“The whole thing is done in-house.”

The model will be going into the village’s showroom to showcase what the village will look like when finished and help with sales, but after that, it will be used as decoration in the main building.

Part of a Summerset Waikanae scale model village. Photo / David Haxton

The two couldn’t be happier with the result and Fields said, “We’re just really proud to be involved.”

Fields said he had been model-making to some degree his whole life, starting with model airplanes when he was a child.

He went on to study in England, where he lived at the time, and gained a degree in architecture, and two months after graduating, in 2002, he moved to New Zealand with his wife Sarah.

Fields worked for various model-making companies in Wellington before eventually starting his business in Kāpiti, which the couple has now owned for 17 years.

It was nine years after starting the business when Lewis got involved.

Lewis worked in the Paraparaumu Toyworld at the time and often found himself talking about models with Fields.

Toyworld was in the process of closing down and Fields said he needed some help making models and offered Lewis work.

Fields said the two got on well, and it was just a natural fit.

Despite not having a degree in architecture, Lewis was a natural model maker.

“If you’re looking for people that are architecture graduates, they quite often can’t model make,” Fields said.

“It’s easier to teach a model maker how to understand architecture.”

The new Summerset homes are priced starting from $635,000 for a cottage, $755,000 for a two-bedroom villa, and $910,000 for a three-bedroom villa.

While the village is currently under construction, the first few homes will be available late this year.

More information about the new village can be found here.