Business Central December 2021

78 | BUILDING FV Design & Build Top Waikato builder in high demand T Karen Phelps Francis Van Den Einden and wife Karina McLuskie after winning gold award and best in category at the 2019 Registered Master Builder’s House of the Year awards, for the home built for themselves. A ttention to detail, reliability and ex- perience is what sets Waikato based builder FV Design and Build Ltd apart. It is no surprise that the company can hand pick the projects it works on, seeking good people and great challenging projects, says company owner Francis Van Den Eiden. Francis is personally involved in every project from start to finish. He is the one clients deal with meaning an extremely unique bespoke approach. Francis is a trade qualified, licensed building practitioner, a member of the Registered Master Builders Association and has over 20 years’ experience. He started his company in 2009 in the middle of the global financial crisis existing on smaller jobs while the economic situation resolved itself. Today the company is in high demand. FV Design and Build only works on one to two projects at a time and has a small, talent- ed, dedicated team. Due to the high level work the company completes Francis trains his own staff and once trained people tend to stay. This means that FV Design and Build can complete virtually every aspect of the build in-house resulting in extremely high levels of quality. The company has won many Registered Master Builders House of the Year awards including a gold regional award in the New Home $750,000 - $1 Million category and being named in the Top 100 in the 2020 com- petition. The 280sqm home boasts two bathrooms, large picture windows, raked ceilings and internal access to double garaging. The team is presently completing two 530sqm homes for two different clients. One home is in Tamahere, which Francis says it will enter in next year’s House of the Year competition. The five-bedroom, four-bathroom home also includes a media room, kids’ lounge, triple car garage, workshop, covered outdoor area and pool. Raking full height ceilings and smart home automation features are also part of the project. The second large home is in Cambridge. It includes a separate workshop studio and two bedroom apartment. The main house comprises four bedrooms, three bathrooms two living areas, open plan kitchen with raking ceiling, wood fire, covered outdoor area and pool. Francis thinks that both homes reflect the high levels of attention to detail the team achieves and ability to “do it all”. He says unexpected price rises and supply constraints due to Covid-19 have made the build environment challenging for both build- er and client. Francis says communication and transparency are the keys. “It’s about having open honest chats and finding solutions,” he says. FV Design and Build completes new homes and renovations. It also takes on the occa- sional smaller job, for example presently a $200,000 renovation, as it fits in with its schedule. At present the company is working on a wa- terfront bach in Raglan on a sloped site with challenging access and is about to start on a large home on the side of a hill in Cambridge. The split level home will be on a 45 degree slope and include cantilevered deck, in situ concrete retaining wall, engineered founda- tion and steelwork. It is exactly the sort of challenging project the team at FV Design and Build thrive on. “I have wanted to be a builder since I was four years old. I’m lucky I get paid to do my hobby. I love going to work and it’s why I still love banging nails in and being hands on. “I like the challenge of creating something and seeing the result of what I’ve done, driving past ten years later and knowing I built it. It’s about finding cool projects and working for cool people.” Plumbing & Gasfitting Specialists 27 Cook Street, Cambridge, Waikato Email: office@cominsplumbing.co.nz Phone: 07 823 7263 Proudly associated with FV Design & Build Phone: 03 983 5500 waterfordpress.co.nz Put yourself in front of potential clients DO OUR READERS KNOW YOU EXIST?