What makes a great urban space? Vitality, activity, scenery, history, car prohibited areas, architecture… It's somewhere you want to be because you don't feel too insignificant in your surrounds. You want to linger there, exploring cozy nooks and taking in the sights, smells and sounds.
When it comes to window joinery you might think the only big decision to be made is around somehow matching the colour to both your cladding AND your interior walls. WRONG.
Other frame types such as uPVC and timber typically outperform aluminium thermally, while there are also many options in glazing - clear or tinted, low-e, and gas infill - which all alter the thermal performance of the windows.
Lets have a look at some of the options available and the pros and cons of each.
Architectural design is about juggling many diverse building factors that can make or break the end product… Given that design costs are just a fraction of what you spend on building materials and labour it is always worth investing in the experience and expertise your designer brings to the table.
For Christmas I made my 2 year old daughter a dolls house. Not just any old dolls house, mind you. My designer brain had to create something in an architectural style! I chose the classic bungalow so prevalent throughout New Zealand!
With building costs spiralling out of control in the last few years, it's never been more important to find ways to save money on your build to make it more achievable. Here are our simple hacks to help. You're welcome.
There has been a bit in the news on medium density housing in the last few years, probably along with some confusion as to what it is. Here, we clarify what it is and suggest some of the benefits of embracing it in the cities of Aotearoa.
May 2023 has brought along with it a significant update for the residential insulation standards in New Zealand. The new H1 compliance that was effective 4 August 2022 is almost completely in force. What that means for us in the lower North Island is…
When it comes to commercial buildings the developers and the end users can often be on opposite sides of the equation, but high performing commercial builds are better for everyone. Here's 5 ways that Passive House works both for developers and occupants.
This list is limited to buildings that I've experience inside and out, not just based on the exterior, and since most of my travel has been concentrated in Europe that's where most of the buildings are located!
When one thinks of passive house they probably think - like I did - that it's to keep the house warm through winter. And while that's correct, it's only part of the picture because overheating in summer gets overlooked.
I was the youngest of 5, my nearest sibling being 8 years older. In some ways I was an only child needing to entertain myself and make my own fun. This involved City Lego predominately - including trains which I loved! When I look back now I realise I had more fun spending ages creating a cityscape - all the buildings etc. - than actually playing with it!
There have been many blog posts written about so-called 'hygge' interior style over the past few years. It has come to be synonymous with anything apparently Scandinavian in terms of décor. But what is hygge, really?
Too often as architects and designers we are thinking about designing the perfect building to meet the brief, when the reality is that it is likely to be changed in the future. If we could consider this in the initial design then it would minimize the negative aesthetic effects that these changes could make.
What if we could do more with the same resource, or perhaps even less? Could we get a more comfortable, quieter, healthier high performance building with the same amount of electricity? Simply put the answer is yes.
What would a truly comfortable building feel like? How can architectural design help you achieve that with your project? Read on to find out…
Sustainability is at the forefront of many people’s minds in all areas of innovation right now, not least in architecture and construction. So, what is “sustainability” and how do we achieve it in architectural design?
We are diving into our big three: “beautiful, sustainable, comfortable”! In Part 1, Jonathan covers some of our design inspiration at Reform Architecture…
There is a bit of a misconception out there that the term Passive House relates to detached housing, but it's so much more than that. The Passive House standard is in fact applicable to all building types.
By taking on new information your own perspective on reality changes. So what does this have to do with architectural design?
