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In defence of planners

Town planners have been getting a hard time lately.  Listening to the rhetoric of government ministers, developers and other commentators, you could be left thinking they were responsible for nearly all the challenges and inefficiencies in building more, and more affordable, housing.It’s worth noting that council planners tasked with enforcing the current system of rules, are, like the rest of the industry, also being asked to get their heads around a steady stream of proposed change...

Investing in our Future

It’s a tricky time to write about the construction industry without getting drawn into political commentary (which is not generally the intent of this column), due to the sheer volume of change enacted or proposed to legislation or spending priorities.For many in the industry, currently enduring a challenging economic environment, it certainly feels we’ve been poorly served by successive governments.  This is due in no small part to the workings of the political system itself, neve...

Building - Tips and advice

Read the original column at the Waikato Business News website.As we begin to hear more noise about interest rate cuts, many people who have been considering a building project are preparing to start the process.  If you are amongst this group, you may find these tips and advice useful.1.        Make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.A building project should enhance your lifestyle, or enable business growth or productivity.Something we ...

A good time to build?

Midway through last year I wrote about some of the market conditions and suggested that it was a good time to initiate a new building project at that time.This month I’ve reviewed the factors at play that reinforce my previous conclusion – if you’re looking to build, now is a great time to start planning and design with a view to building in late 2024 or 2025.This article was first published in the Waikato Business News, February 2024.You can read the full column here....

Is Hamilton's CBD too big?

Dad used to tell me that the powers that be had let Hamilton’s Central Business District get too big in the 1970s and ‘80s.I’m not sure I appreciated what he really meant during my teen years in ‘90s Hamilton, but it’s an idea I’ve reflected on often in the years since.How much more vibrant would the city centre be if it extended no further north than London Street, for example?This article was first published in the Waikato Business News, November 2023.Read the full column here....

Housing Affordability: are we solving the right problem?

A number of conversations recently have led me to ask whether we are focusing our collective problem solving attention on the right part of the problem with regards to housing affordability.Read the full column here....

How much can construction be automated?

There’s a clever advertisement that has seen a lot of coverage in various media recently, which first amused, then intrigued me. The headline is “Hey Chat GPT, finish this building…” It’s an ad for Belgian job agency, Impact, and features a multistorey building, wrapped in scaffold and plastic, with the tagline “your skills are irreplaceable”. But are they really?Read the full column here....

Is it a good time to build?

First published in Waikato Business News July 2023.If you’ve been thinking of building a new house, the past two years may have been a worrying time.  High demand, staffing limitations and supply chain challenges have conspired to produce rapidly escalating prices.  Those economic conditions in the NZ building industry post-covid have meant that builders have been at first reluctant, and in many cases simply unable, to provide fixed price building contracts – in turn maki...

Eight things that make Cambridge a great place to live.

Read this article in the Waikato Business News....

Where are all the experts?

First published in Waikato Business News March 2023.... I can’t help but consider that the problems we’re currently facing are at least in part due to our collective reluctance to listen to experts, especially when their advice requires short-term sacrifice for long-term benefit.Politicians, at times, forget that their role is governance, and can’t help but meddle or pursue pet projects, feeling that their ‘common sense’ holds greater value than expert advice...Read the full artic...

Old becomes new

First published in Waikato Business News Dec 2022.During the last two years members of our practice have been fortunate enough to make trips to Christchurch and Dunedin, the kaupapa on each occasion being to tour the architecture of the city.  One of the highlights for me of both excursions was the clever adaption and reuse of previously neglected buildings.Read the full column here....

What does green really mean?

First published in Waikato Business News Oct 2022.We have a problem in the construction industry.  It’s estimated construction and demolition waste make up to 50% of all landfill waste in New Zealand.  And the construction industry accounts for approximately 20% of our carbon emissions.  Yet we still have a shortage, particularly of affordable housing in Aotearoa.We can’t stop building houses, but we have less than a decade to make significant reductions in our ...

New Team Member: Ghada Ajami-Oliver

Senior Architect Ghada joined the PAUA team at the end of May this year.  Here is a little bit about her background and motivation for doing the work she does.Nō hea koe? (where are you from?)Originally from Lebanon; I have lived in NZ for 14 years. How long have you been in the architecture industry?  On and off 20 plus years. What inspired you to become an architect? Believing that living in well designed environments makes us better adjusted human beings. Career highlight so far? (...

NZIA Awards - judging experience

I am Beatriz Egan, an architectural graduate at PAUA Architects.  Recently, I had the fantastic opportunity to be part of the jury for Local Architecture Awards Waikato and Bay of Plenty 2022. Firstly, I would like to thank NZIA for including me on the the jury, creating a clever schedule for our four day trip, and for all the work behind the scenes to make the Awards happen.  Thank you to the rest of the jury members, Paul Raven, Adam Mercer, Rachel Parker, and Kathy Johnston; I had s...

Is your conference sustainable?

Five of our team travelled to Auckland yesterday for a conference, the main focus of which was sustainability.  The timing didn't work to take the train, so we all managed to squeeze into an electric car for the journey - about the most sustainable way we could travel at the moment. The conference was well organised, the speakers and content was great, and we left invigorated by many exciting discussions. Throughout the day though, we reflected a number of times on the focus of the conferen...

Rocky Road Townhouses - on sale now

The Rocky Road Residences are townhouses designed by PAUA Architects, in the north of Hamilton, they are on sale right now from the Rocky Road website. PAUA was approached by the developer in early 2021, and won the commission through a design competition process.  PAUA undertook both the urban design masterplanning and the architectural design of the dwellings themselves....

New team member: Dominic Yuen

Dominic joined the team at PAUA Architects in February 2022.  We've asked him a few questions to get to know him a little better:How long have you been in the architecture industry?I’ve been in the architecture industry for over 16 years, with specialisation in masterplanning, commercial, education and public architecture.What inspired you to become an architect?I believe architecture is about people, it is our relationship to the land, and our responsibility to the environment.  As ...

'Enabling Housing' legislation sacrifices townscape character

The intent behind this new bill is to increase the availability of residential land and relaxing of rules to enable more new housing within existing neighbourhoods.  The Labour-National cross-party initiative shows the heightened concern that parliament has for the present housing shortage.But the bill as it stands has serious and long-term consequences for our neighbourhoods, towns and cities.Read the full article here....

Is it time to re-think the way that we live?

Increasingly, I’m coming to the conclusion that not only is the way that we develop land an inefficient use of space, it’s also bad for us. To start with some context, let’s consider how the way that we build houses has changed, particularly since the 1960s and ‘70s, the heyday of the quarter acre dream.  Kiwi have long preferred detached housing.  I suspect this is largely because of an abundance of land to develop, though the fact that a lot of our population growth...

Is a house just a roof over our head?

Or can it be more, a creative reflection of who we are? I was led to ponder this question by a comment made recently by Brad Olsen, principal economist and director of Infometrics, as part of a presentation to the Waipa District Council.  In response to a question about the performance of NZ’s economy, Brad discussed our nation’s productivity record and went on to say “Why does every New Zealander need a completely bespoke home that’s different – in every way, shape and form ...

A Lifetime Ago

A lifetime ago as a young architect I had the fortune to work with a small practice in Cambridge, UK. Much of the practice’s work was for the colleges, departments and institutes associated with the University of Cambridge.  It was a delightful time working amongst – and with – some great people and some important architecture. One of the most notable characteristics of Cambridge is the sense of an intimate small-scale town, despite Cambridge being a city of some 150,000 peo...

Time for a Garden Place coalition

When I walk through Garden Place, an irksome feeling resurrects in me that somehow Garden Place seems incomplete, unresolved, and even unsure of itself, awaiting another political kickstart of courage to edge closer to an – as yet – undefined completion. Some of the irk is that there are way too few exciting shops or eateries at its perimeter to draw me in, nor a pavement-wide set of diners at tables.  Some irk is that there is no sense of anticipation or delight on arriving at Gar...

Boldness will reap rewards

Hamilton City Council recently adopted their 2021-2051 Central City Transformation Plan, a refresh of an earlier plan set in 2015. The plan looks to put in place projects and strategies over the next 30 years to make the city centre attractive for investment and a better place to work and live. The plan is restricted to strategies that are immediately available to council; therefore transport and roading, streetscaping, park and reserves enhancements, and District Plan and Long-Term Plan change...

Pencarrow House Feature

Our Pencarrow House project has been featured by Here Magazine and Altherm.  Architect Geoff Lentz was interviewed for the feature, you can see the full story with video and podcast on the Altherm website....

Waikato Business News - A new column

In his new regular column in the Waikato Business News, PAUA Director and Principal Architect Antanas Procuta discusses the value of sustainability and community, a topic more relevant than ever in the time of Covid-19.You can read the full article here. ...