74 | “We call ourselves architectural designers and technicians and we’re a very process-driven business.” ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN Prime Designs T T Sue Russell Systems approach delivers Prime Designs does a lot of its work in the group housing and property development markets. Luke Hammington established Upper-Hutt based Prime Designs to offer clients the best possible quality to cost ratio delivered through highly tuned design development systems. He believes that everyone, regardless of budget, should be able to expect a design that embraces what is important to them, that is highly liveable, built to healthy standards and that the building process itself should be one that empowers the owner in a collaborative culture. One key sector Prime Designs offers its service suite to is the group housing and property development markets. “We call ourselves architectural designers and technicians and we’re a very process-driven business. I want any one of our clients to be able to use any of our staff and get the right outcomes. This is why I have put so much time and energy into building systems that are followed on every project we undertake.” He also thinks of builders when plans are drawn; understanding they want to have certainty as to design integrity, building systems to apply and that the same quality outcome will be repeated on each home they construct. Prime Designs has been in business since 2014, initially growing in team size beyond what it is today. “It’s fair to say we experienced a few growing pains within three years of starting which caused me to concentrate on good fundamentals that would allow us to operate well with 10-15 staff while producing large volumes of consistently high standard plans.” Looking very much toward the ‘average, hard-working family’ cohort to produce plans for, Luke says he never wanted to be everything to everyone operating in the residential building sector. He understands by focusing on part of a much larger residential build offering, he’s able to deliver results over and over again. One group housing company Prime Designs produces house plans for is Sentinel Homes. Luke enjoys a positive relationship with the company and has been working with them for some years now. Luke understands that building great business systems is not a one off thing but an ongoing approach to how to run the business. In a world where the market is changing, building codes are being amended, planning rules are changing it’s important the business model is flexible to adapt and try new things. “One thing I have learnt is that you don’t break a business over night. As new system thinking comes into the equation there is always time to tweak how you do something. There’s time to adapt.”s There’s also a lot of flexibility as to how staff work. Some prefer to work from home at times as well as in the Trentham office, while Luke also works remotely, based in Queenstown. Generally the bulk of work is in the Wellington area though he has started to make inroads, now based in Queenstown, on that building market. “I’m really pleased that we have systems that mean I don’t have to be physically with the team. They can work perfectly well without me in the office.” Asked about the design process, Luke says, he has learnt that sometimes clients don’t know what they want, but by diving in with good questions, you discover that they do know what they want. “It’s about asking the right questions.” Luke says an emphasis has also been on development work; building a capability within the team to really interpret how a site can best be built on, with the aim of creating a better return for a developer or for the owner. “Helping them achieve so much more with their site. This is definitely a part of the business I want to prioritise.” Flair Flooring Xtra is Proud to Support Sentinel Homes
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