Design & Build Process

Auckland’s architecture has around 150 years of colonial built history to look back on, a residential suburban landscape pocketed with examples that morphed with the times through the decades. Box™ is well-known for its commitment to the modernist style – the architecture of the mid-century – in particular the case study houses of California that…

The term ‘form follows function’ is used so frequently in architectural discourse that is has become as clichéd as ‘indoor/outdoor flow’. So what does it actually mean?When architect Louis Sullivan (a pioneer of the American skyscraper) coined the phrase in 1896, he originally used the words “form ever follows function” and the simple premise was…

Box™ Diaries will be a regular post showcasing our new builds during construction and at final completion, or handover day! Check out the first video in the series. This project is 40minutes from Auckland in a stunning location. The videos give you an unfiltered overview; no furniture, no landscaping… https://youtu.be/wtEex4yeWPo

As an SME operating in the design and construction industry, Box™ needs to be nimble. We believe in testing the waters of interesting design-and-build ideas but are quick to pivot if the uptake or financials don’t stack up. So what has the Covid crisis taught us? Well, there’s the human side. Several Box™ clients contacted…

In uncertain times, people crave stability – and in the first instance, most look for it at home. Those who already have a stash of pantry staples squirreled away (and let’s face it, a couple of bottles of wine too) as per advice in the civil emergency guidelines, or who have nurtured a veggie garden…

Developing an understanding of the costs involved in building a new home is a process not that different from the one involved in completing the design and build process. It is highly unlikely that a single brochure or conversation will answer all your questions or give you options however with the application of a process…

In short: by not re-inventing the wheel on each project and working efficiently as an end-to-end design and build company. Do you think that architects are expensive – with little regard to building efficiency and cost? Or that house building companies are better priced, but disinterested in design? Architects are expensive, often 10% to 15%…

What budgets do you build for? Box™ has worked with building cost budgets from $500k to $3m. Typically, total project budgets are between $750,000 and $1,300,000.   Do you give a fixed cost to build a house? Yes. We fix the cost for all construction work, with the exception of works in the ground –…

When someone gives you a ‘square metre’ rate, it is often impossible to know what is included in this. How do you accurately compare one company with another, when there is no common definition of cost per square metre? GST. Architects are notorious for not including GST in their rates Siteworks. Does it include earthworks,…

Prefab building, the great hope for the housing crisis, is teetering on disaster      

This stunning Box™ home in Westmere features in the August issue of NZ House & Garden. https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/homed/houses/105380778/A-light-and-art-filled-Auckland-home    

Box™ scoops 4 awards at the 2018 Master Build House of the Year competition The Creative House https://www.box.virtualtag.co.nz/portfolio/the-creativehome-2/ won Gold and Overall Regional Award for PlaceMakers New Home $450,000 – $550,000 Hutt City Builders, Wellington http://huttcitybuilders.co.nz https://houseoftheyear.co.nz/houses/2018/ww-11993-1-5/ The Tropical House won Gold for Nulook New Home $700,000 – $1million https://www.box.virtualtag.co.nz/portfolio/the-tropicalhouse-2/ and…..The Private Haven won Silver for Carters New Home $1million…

The latest addition to the Box™ family is a stunning rural retreat in Kaiwaka, Northland. We recently uploaded this project to “Our Work”, but we love the look and feel of this home and thought you would like to see a few more images. Abodo have featured it in their latest Project Showcase https://www.abodo.co.nz/stories/projects/box-living-in-coastal-mangawhai-new-zealand

Incorporating a 20sqm visitor accommodation unit for a client who had built with us before, provided Box™ with an opportunity to construct a dwelling using a panelised off-site building methodology. This kit of parts was transported via ferry to a challenging Waiheke site.    

Our Box™ Home Every journey begins with a single step. It feels like our first step took place about 6 years ago. I won’t bore you with too many details, suffice to say that after living in old draughty homes for years, it became our dream to build our own home…. Follow our journey as…

Tiny Gem! Written by Claire McCall Small houses are big news – which is as it should be. We’ve always believed that, with clever design, ‘quality’ gives a better result than ‘quantity’ any day of the week. So when Box™ sales and marketing manager Peter (and his partner Hannes) built a 110-square-metre everyday escape on…

Our First Workshop-Built Home Written by Claire McCall It was with enormous pride (and admittedly a little trepidation) that last month we installed our first workshop-built home on a hair-raising site in Waiheke Island. Constructed in our Henderson facility, it was designed in six ‘modules’ in the controlled environment of the shop floor before, like…

When we say ‘screen time’ at Box™, it’s nothing to do with limiting our social media, cutting down our gaming, or saving our eye-sight. It usually has to do with how we’re going to divide one space off from another. A wall is not the be all and end all of the solution. Here are…

The summer of 2018 looks set to be a scorcher but whether you stay put for the holidays, or get away to play, a house that makes friends with the sun and scenery gives that holiday feeling all year round. At Box™, we use a number of tried-and-true design strategies to achieve this: 1. An…

Thinking outside the box! Dan Heyworth, CEO and founder of design and build company Box™, spoke to Build about off-site production and his belief that building at scale could help solve some of New Zealand’s intractable housing problems. Have a read of the full article in Build Magazine –   https://www.buildmagazine.org.nz/articles/show/thinking-outside-the-box