Author: Matthew Cutler-Welsh
-
How to Design Eco Friendly Homes
Lesley England knows how to design eco friendly homes and importantly for her, she knows how to attract the right clients who want her to design eco friendly homes. It’s all in the name – ecohabitats. Actually, that’s not completely true. The name ecohabitats does attract a lot of clients, but her great design work…
-
Warm Windows
What exactly is ‘PVC’? And is this really a good material for window framing in New Zealand, Australia, or anywhere else in the World? These are some of the questions I put to Oleg Tolmachev, Sales Manager at Warm Windows – Cascade International. PVC PVC is the abbreviation for poly(vinyl chloride) which is a white…
-
Building Guide
Through his company, Aim High Publishing, Mark Graham owns and runs the Building Guide, the Design Guide and Bob – the Business of Building. But as Mark openly admits in our interview, he used to hate advertising – the very industry he worked in and now relies on. The difference today is that he knows he’s helping…
-
Self-Help Housing
Self-help housing is not your typical DIY. I continually comment on the poor standard of the New Zealand housing stock, but we can’t ignore the fact that there are people in even worse housing situations. At least 1 billion of them in fact. Canopy Housing Project is a self-help housing organisation based in Leeds, U.K., creating decent homes by renovating derelict…
-
Affordable Housing
I’ve tried to avoid the issue of affordable housing. It’s a term that gets used a lot and in all likelihood, the provision of affordable housing is going to be an election issue. I avoid it because it’s often brought up as a negative issue. As a problem. But when someone such as Daiman Otto…
-
Green Building Design with Jessica Eyers
Jessica Eyers is a passionate advocate for sustainable, green design. As I discovered during this interview, Jessica is also really interested in the science of green building and understanding what works and what doesn’t work. Architecture & Inspiration Jessica completed a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Sheffield in the U.K. But it was…
-
Black Pine Architects
Duncan Sinclair is the founder of Black Pine Architects. His practice and his home are in Whanganui, but thanks to the internet, his work can be anywhere. It’s About People Construction and architecture is technical work, but for Duncan it’s ultimately about people. Good buildings should look after the people that occupy them. Good buildings…
-
Box Living
Dan Heyworth, General Manager of Box Living, is on a mission to improve the range and quality of houses available to New Zealanders. After returning to New Zealand from the UK a few years ago, Dan realised there are really only two main options for getting a house built, either going to a building company for…
-
Sustainable House Success Story
Ron and Maureen’s home is characterised by it’s modest size, flexible layout and an edible garden. What might not be so obvious about this sustainable house success story, are the very low running costs and very high comfort levels year round. As Ron explained to me during our chat, visitors are often surprise at how ‘normal’ the…