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Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks Headquarters, Bay of Plenty

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Thu, 17/05/2018 - 6:12pm

A whale of a tale is behind the award-winning whale’s tail design of the new headquarters of Mangatawa Papamoa Blocks Inc.

More precisely, the story of three whales – Mangatawa, Kopukairoa and Hikurangi, who feature in Maori legend about how their namesake hills were formed. The story...

A colourful learning environment

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Thu, 17/05/2018 - 5:57pm

Since the Christchurch earthquakes the population of Rolleston has grown from 9,555 in 2012/13 to a projected 15,000+ this year.

It’s not surprising, therefore that this town should be the location of three new schools, part of Government’s $1.1 billion Christchurch Schools Rebuild (CSR)...

A WORK OF ART

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 1:37pm

It takes imagination without limits, a personality stimulated by challenge, and a combination of engineering skills and experience to turn a utilitarian roofing material into an ingenious work of art.

Steven Clothier has been making iconic landmarks around New Zealand from corrugated iron...

The woodland cottage

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 1:10pm

When people build new, they often build big but that wasn’t the case for the owners of this home in Fairfield, Dunedin.

Eric and Noreen Johnson wanted to keep their home at about the 150sq m mark on a reasonably tight budget.

“We didn’t want to build big,” says Eric, a retired...

Remodelling synlait

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 1:41pm

The New Zealand dairy industry has experienced tremendous growth over the last decade as global demand for our milk products has significantly increased. This increase in demand has seen the need for the expansion of the Synlait processing plant in Dunsandel, just out of Christchurch.

The...

What does a roofer choose when a roofer roofs his house

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 1:17pm

Being a roofer, Jonathon Telfer had some creative ideas for the crowning glory of his family home in Kerikeri.

He had sketched out some plans of what the single level weatherboard home would look like before handing them over to Paul Spooner, of Spooner Architectural Solutions.

“I...

Wyllie Cottage, Gisborne

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 1:48pm

As the first colonial home built on the northern side of the Taruheru River, Wyllie Cottage holds a special place in the history of Gisborne. 

The city’s oldest surviving European house, Wyllie Cottage is thought to have been either built on the riverside site or moved there between 1871...

Texture, colour, convenience and flair:

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 1:32pm

This house has it all.

Amy and Lance Vincent love coming home. It’s like finding a box on the doorstep, gift-wrapped in textured black and tied with the sunniest orange ribbon you ever did see.

That’s in some measure a gift from the architect. Architect John Chaplin of Chaplin...

The Smithy

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 12:31pm

In the 1880’s a blacksmith shop opened at Outram, the Taieri river ferry crossing, to service the horses and wagons belonging to streams of hopeful prospectors heading for the Central Otago goldfields.

Architect Reece Warnock, architectural designer, recalls the building from his...

The Smithy

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 30/05/2017 - 12:29pm

In the 1880’s a blacksmith shop opened at Outram, the Taieri river ferry crossing, to service the horses and wagons belonging to streams of hopeful prospectors heading for the Central Otago goldfields.

Architect Reece Warnock, architectural designer, recalls the building from his...

Metrotile overcomes common leaks found with typical roof penetrations

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 4:03pm

Experienced roofer Scott Harris from SH Roofing, a member of RANZ, attended a leak complaint at a 4-year-old metal tile roof in Pukekohe in February 2017. Heavy rain, leaking through a roof penetration, resulted in a wet patch forming on the home owners ceiling.

Investigations resulted in...

Southland Tavern, Invercargil

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 4:25pm

As a community-focused organisation, the Invercargill Licensing Trust knew that in the interests of its customers it was time to replace the Southland Tavern.

The old building, which had become outdated and exceeded its serviceable life, was demolished to make way for a more modern and...

Simple form, impeccable detailing

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 4:56pm

When Dravitzki Brown Architecture was approached to design a family home near Queenstown, the brief was straightforward: “A simple form, with impeccable detailing”.

The owners wanted something that sat elegantly and easily on the land – a flat site with a northwest aspect at Speargrass...

Richard Wilden: house in a hill: 44

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 3:36pm

Architectural designer Richard Wilden has a fondness for the home that he conceived overlooking the Otago Harbour – and not just because 

it won him an award. 

As he explains, the Broad Bay home that earned an ADNZ national award in the under 250sq m category helped to push his...

jack’s point:44

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 3:46pm

Jack’s Point show home wins awards with Espan® 

On a working farm 15 minutes from Queenstown, just past Kawarau Falls and Frankton and facing Lake Wakatipu, is the Jack’s Point residential and golf development. It’s been 15 years in the planning by international planning practice Darby...

Reaching new heights

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 26/05/2017 - 3:56pm

For South Island roofing installer Courtney McDowell, this was no ordinary job. His team were flown by helicopter to the building site each day, in a remote location in the Southern Alps, where they worked against the clock in sub-zero temperatures. And given that all materials were arriving by...

Epsom villa re-roof

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 11/10/2016 - 2:12pm

Joining two homes together created an impressive 600sq m character villa in the Auckland suburb of Epsom.

But it also created a problem where the two homes were joined.

As Josh Barnes, director of Roofing Works Services Limited, explains. “Where the two homes are joined there are...

Waiheke Island

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 04/10/2016 - 5:18pm

Having lived on Waiheke Island for more than 20 years, architectural designer Claudia Lapp is familiar with its often challenging topography.

But for this Oneroa site the challenge was more in getting the most out of a home that would have a west-facing orientation to capture the sea...

Wharekai, Unitec Marae

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 04/10/2016 - 5:28pm

 

When Auckland’s Unitec opened a marae on its Mt Albert campus more than seven years ago, it was a milestone for the institution.

Te Noho Kotahitanga was officially opened on Friday, March 13, 2009  with the wharenui (meeting house), called Te Ngãkau Mãhaki, at its heart.

...

Volunteer Nepal

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 04/10/2016 - 10:03am

At last year’s Roofing Association conference (2015) Richard Vetter stood up and said, “I was in Nepal just before the earthquake and loved the place and the people.  One of the Villages where I stayed has been flattened by the earthquake and I am going back to help them rebuild their community...

The Dacha: Russian meaning for a home away from home

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Tue, 04/10/2016 - 10:35am

Mt. Gold Place, Wanaka

At the first meeting on site, between the client and architect, they could hardly see the lake view due to the dense vegetation. They had to climb to the roof of the architect’s car to see the potential outlook. It was breathtaking. The brief for...

EPL Building Christchurch

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Mon, 03/10/2016 - 1:18pm

As a company that makes cutting edge products, EPL wanted a Christchurch head office and manufacturing facility that embodied its drive for innovation.

Elastomer Products Limited (EPL) was founded in Christchurch in 1974 and its extruded rubber and polymer products are...

Taupo holiday home

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Mon, 03/10/2016 - 11:56am

For a young Kiwi/Belgian family living in Hong Kong, having a holiday home on Lake Taupo provides an antidote to apartment living in the fast-paced financial hub.

When Dan Kirton and Sylvie Doclot approached Fraser Cameron Architects, they wanted to build a holiday home on a site at...

Designing smart with profiled metal roofing.

Submitted by Bruce Duncan on Fri, 13/05/2016 - 5:21pm

 

It is easy when designing a building to leave the roof cladding until last; however, consideration should be made at the outset of design of the Kℓ pressure coefficient factors, which apply to roof cladding and the purlins at the periphery of all buildings.
Some engineers are now...

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