"Architect-designed houses are not accessible to all." This is a myth championed by the building industry. Alternatively, why not focus on the key benefits architects bring to a project. Here are a few for you: • Appoint an architect to your project and you’ll gain a home designed for the way you want to live.The alternative is a builder-designed home that suits what the builder is used to building. Quality builders will ask for plans and specifications to be thoroughly documented so that they can go ahead and do what they do best, which is build. Working out with the owner what you’re going to build and why is the architect’s role. • An architect manages planning approvals. This process is complex, often arbitrarily applied by many Councils, fraught with pitfalls for the novice and is ramped up every year with new hoops to jump. If you want a professional on your side who knows the territory, will go in to bat for you and will forge a way through this minefield, you need an architect. • If you’d prefer to put the works to tender to a number of builders rather than having to accept the quote of the builder you started the process with, you need an architect. • If you’d prefer to protect yourself with a proper, architect-managed ABIC contract that works equally for both parties and is legally enforceable, you need an architect. • An architect will minimise costly changes during construction as he or she will produce a proper level of drawings (expect 20 x A3 pages for a new home, rather than the 1-2 pages you’ll receive from a drafting service.). The reasons for this are that you have on paper exactly what you want to build. Without this, you are entering a contract with a builder with none of the details resolved. You wouldn’t do that if you were buying a house, so why do it when spending an equally significant amount of money? Unfortunately, some builders see this approach as an opportunity to happily accept constant changes from ‘project managing’ owners because it’s just another variation that he can charge for. The longer he is there, the better for his margins, particularly when there’s no contract to speak of. Finally, an architect is a specialist with a professional duty of care, irrespective of financial gain. In other words, they’re there to support and protect you, without benefit to themselves. No one else in the building industry can provide this.

looks great, well done

I would be contacting the kitchen company. I have the same cupboards over my cooktop and the doors are perfect. This kitchen would be about 6 years old . My other home has a kitchen which I had installed 20 years ago and the doors above are also perfect .

The kitchen has become one of the most important family areas of the modern home, which can be at odds with the way New Zealand homes have been built over the past decades. In this project, the family home worked well except for the kitchen being 'blocked off' so meal preparation and cooking split the family during the important 'after work' hours. To achieve better open plan living, we removed the main structural wall between the kitchen & dining areas and blocked off the original side entry into the kitchen, so the lost storage could be replaced. The result has been incredible. Meal preparation times have become family time, whether the kids are helping out, or doing homework from the kitchen bench. A great transformation to the home, and family life! The new kitchen itself is elegant and stylish, in a white gloss shaker style finish, engineered stone benches, and great design to provide great storage space. Don't be daunted by the Building Consent process - we can manage all that for you, from the Building Consent application, through to the issue of the Code of Compliance Certificate! During this period of lockdown we are pleased to be able to offer Zoom meetings, so feel free to contact us so we can get your renovation started. Before: After: