Building better Products to create great Architecture

I often see substitutions made on architectural projects by builders and what happens is that the client misses out on a better preforming building because they were convinced by someone that they should settle for status quo. If the way we were building was creating better preforming buildings easily, don’t you think we would already be creating healthy comfortable and energy efficient homes?

Future Perspective: What should our homes look like tomorrow?

As I sit in my little studio, viewing the construction sector mostly through my social feed on my computer, I ask myself if New Zealand is really ready for the great change that is looming in our residential and commercial buildings.

And so while the politicians argue about policy changes, I day dream for a moment to visualize what our future homes should look like to be not only affordable but livable and keeping in line with international climate commitments.

Here are the 7 ways our buildings Architecture is going to change in the coming years.

Less is more: 6 Ways to improve your homes performance in the Architectural design. How to get a better home without breaking the bank.

One of the biggest misconceptions in our design and construction industry is the notion that better performance means more. More complication, more money and more systems. That simply is a big fat myth. Building performance is intentional, driven by the design (the cheapest place to get it right) and often about making things simpler, not more complicated.

I once had a potential client tell me, “Just draw it.” My response, was just “just draw what?”

A bit of a back story, the client thought the process was simple and that the drawing he was expecting to see would just magically happen without investing in all the steps of the Architectural Process.

So often Plans are seen as a product, something you pay for. The Plans are in fact the instructions. If you aren’t clear on what you are creating, the instruction might lead to something you were not expecting. “The Architect didn’t listen to the budget” or “it’s not what I was wanting.”

Before we start developing the instructions, we need to develop the vision. And before we can develop the vision, we need to establish the expectations and parameters.

Here are the 6 things that I get clear with my clients before I start to create their vision into a Concept Design.

Our New Zealand Building Code is perceived by many to create a healthy comfortable family home. But there are gaps in the code that means this isn’t a guarantee. Learn how Passive House fills the gaps left in the NZBC from an Architectural Design perspective.

In a recent conversation I was asked “how does someone know what a healthy home feels like?” It’s a great question. Health and comfort are intangible concepts and are firmly rooted in our experience. At Architecture School I was told as a Designer I should be an agent of social change. But how can you help affect positive change in peoples homes when they haven’t experience anything better than what they currently have.

Passive House and Offsite. The powerful potential of Collaboration for real affordable Architectural Design.

5 Questions to ask about square meter rates when it comes to Architectural Design and Building in New Zealand

I recently had some push back on a social media post about lower interest rates and how Homestar can help you pay off your mortgage faster. I realise that an Architectural Designer talking about interest rates and mortgages may seem mismatched, so here is the back story.

Pathway to building better with Architectural Design

“If you think my fee is expensive, you don’t understand the true cost of a cheap job.”

On Site Observation – Why you should engage your Architectural Designer

This year, as we enter the Autumn season suddenly, along with the cost of living so high, I suspect power bills will be on some peoples mind more than before.

I know there are many people out there wanting to do better with their choices in building and renovating their new homes. But with a misconception of the increased costs of building better, it often gets dismissed early on.

I enjoy conversations generated from parties outside my everyday operational sphere and a recent conversation with Malcolm McCracken, a senior analyst in Infrastructure with a background in Planning, is the inspiration for this blog. Malcolm, like me, has a passion for making our built environments better suited for both people and planet.

Reflections from the Architectural Design Studio of 2023

Get Ready for 2023: Homestar, H1 and Building for Climate Change

This famous quote by Le Corbusier was made when he developed his housing design philosophy in the 1920s. Fast forward 100 years, and it seems while we still quote this, we don’t action it to the degree we need to.

Andrew Eagles from the New Zealand Green Building Council commented on LinkedIn earlier this year, that if we plugged all the thermal leaks in our homes, we wouldn’t need to increase our power generation capacity. This would be because we would be making more effective use of our current capacity.

Are you 2030 Ready for Building for Climate Change? Climate change is a contentious concept, capable of sparking massive debate.

Our New Zealand Building Code sets the minimum, so its fair to say it prescribes the worst-preforming building you can legally build.