Business Central September 2021

88 | BUILDING A Knight Design & Build T T Sue Russell A Knight Design & Build focuses on building bespoke architecturally designed higher-end homes. A dam Knight founded his design and build business two decades ago at Waihi Beach. He’s proud to call the beach home, with parents and grandparents living in the town and says it’s a great place to live and operate a company. While the bulk of the projects has involved replacing old baches with new homes, Adam says a new subdivision development is point- ing toward continued growth in the size of the town. “When I first started it was me and two others and I’ve had up to 14 staff, but now I’ve settled at a team of 9 which is working well at this time.” Concentrating on bespoke architecturally designed higher-end projects these days means that Adam is only willing to take on staff who share the same passion for building and high standards of craftsmanship as he does. “One of the original workers with me now has two of his sons working in the business, so that feels really good to have that link back to the past.” In all, over the years, a large number of apprentices have honed their skills under Ad- am’s watch, something he gains a great deal of satisfaction from. “Seeing them develop into fine builders and with some of them eventually go out on their own has been a great part of my building journey.” Asked whether he intends to take on more staff at this point in time Adam says the current size works well, in terms of having a couple of projects on the go, at various stages of development,and giving me time to concen- trate on quality. Building the dream at Waihi Beach “More staff means more work to be found and more responsibility and I think that every business owner needs to weigh up a lot of factors when deciding to grow.” He’s also fussy to take on only projects that are viable in every sense of the word, no mat- ter how ‘out of the box’ they might be. Recently, the team at A Knight Design & Build, completed a renovation of a 120 year old villa which had its own set of challenges, however Adam notes that everyone loved the old techniques and craftsmanship involved mixed with some more modern features. The clients were left with an amazing home. Adam also says it adds real value to a build to have his input from a design perspective from the start. “These days with 90% of our work the clients come to me and I have three or four ar- chitects who contract to me. It’s a really good way for a project to be structured; I find the clients end up with what they want and the construction process works better for us. Adam considers the apprenticeship path- way these days to be a sound one with the right balance between academic and practical. “You used to be able to do a theory unit without the practical element but now both are required to be signed off and that’s much better.” With two foreman, Adam is able to take on two substantial projects at a time, each at different stages of completion. Given the nature of the projects Adam and the team take on, he works on a charge-out basis. “The cost of building is increasing rapidly, with demand for materials and demand for building work really squeezing the industry at this time.” Looking ahead, Adam says he’s already booked up through the bulk of 2022. He’s got a supportive team around him in the form of his dad Rex who takes care of initial contact with potential clients and wife Hazel who looks after the accounts and bookwork. “I wouldn’t be able to operate at this really demanding time without these people there.” When Business Central spoke with Adam, work was underway on a tilt-slab concrete home. With a combination of burnt Japanese cedar and textured concrete panelling, the home promises to really pack some punch in terms of visual appeal and sense of permanence. “It’s a slightly different way of constructing with the products we are using, including Litecrete, which is half the weight of concrete,” says Adam. “The prep work took 7-8 months before we actually got the concrete on site. “It’s providing the team with lots of good building experiences with in situ concrete areas and some clever design.” CREATE YOUR DREAM BATHROOM AT MICO Proud supporters of A Knight Design & Build MICO MOUNT MAUNGANUI 30 Newton St, Mount Maunganui, Tauranga 07 574 8327 www.mico.co.nz