| 81 T T Virginia Wright A life dedicted to design Bruce’s career has generally involved residential design. ARCHITECTURAl DESIGN Bruce Campbell Design Contact: Phone: Mobile: Email: Laureen Goodger 07 390 5883 027 201 7645 lbg@lbgbuilders.co.nz www.lbgbuilders.co.nz In the four-plus decades Bruce Campbell has been an architectural designer, while gaining experience with various companies at different times, he has been his own boss for most of those years. He studied at what was then Manukau Technical Institute before leaving to work for a number of architectural and building companies to gain on-the-job experience. He went on to set up his own company Making Plans Ltd, which he sold some 20 years ago. He then established Bruce Campbell Design Ltd, which he sold to his two senior designers about five years ago but ended up taking back when Covid took its toll on the industry. Before setting up that first company aged 30, among other things Bruce spent time doing pre-cut drafting for Carter Holt Harvey. This involves reformatting architectural plans so frames and trusses can be efficiently manufactured in a factory and assembled on site. “My early years were spent working with a variety of companies learning how buildings went together. “Then, I knew that if I wanted to be self-employed, I needed business knowledge as well as my architectural skills, so I worked for companies outside the construction industry, such as Xerox, to get those important business skills,” Bruce explains. Although in those early days he did a little commercial work from time to time, Bruce’s career has generally involved residential design. When he set up on his own in Orewa in 1985 there was a lot of expansion with new developments and subdivisions springing up, and Bruce worked with local builders designing a steady supply of houses and apartment buildings. Auckland has since grown to encompass Orewa, which is still developing – now out to the west, but Bruce is no longer doing that sort of work. Instead, he’s enjoying working with a very specific sort of clientele. “That work is now mostly built by housing companies; my work is more bespoke housing for individual clients. I’m working with clients that I knew years ago and in some cases for their children. I’ve been around long enough that my original clientele is coming back to me,” he says. Since Covid, and more recently with the economic climate being what it is, Bruce has noticed an increase in additions and alterations as clients choose to make more of what they already have, rather than build new. This type of work can be more challenging, and involves a different sort of relationship with both clients and builders, which Bruce enjoys. “With a new build the builders take the drawings away and get on with the job, but with alterations there’s always adjustments here and there, so it’s a closer relationship.” Each edition priority delivered to your door. Each edition priority . www.waterfordpress.co.nz/subscriptions . . . i i 03 983 5500 Stay informed; we work with business owners and decision-makers across all economic sectors, profiling their success. i ; i i i i - ll i , ili i . Your Business, Your Industry, Your News. r i , r I tr , r . businessnorth Despite the challenges of the job, East Coast farmer Toby Williams says rewards are easily found - page 6 Animal welfare at the heart of operation Spring 2020 www.waterfordpress.co.nz Business North Rural Not only are his clients often multi-generational, but with new builds, often they are building their second, third or fourth house. Brian and Jan Wagstaff are no exception. Around 30 years ago Bruce designed the alterations for their house in Auckland; he then did plans for other family members, including a large house for Jan’s father in Stillwater. More recently, he designed their new build on the waterways in Whitianga, where the section came with a pontoon out the front for their boat. “They knew what they wanted, which included having the living rooms’ views over the water and the boat, and to make the most of the sun to the north with garaging to the west,” says Bruce. He designed a single-storey, contemporary house with ply-and-batten exterior, a gable roof and two covered patios offering sheltered indoor-outdoor living and entertaining space. The over-sized laundry will easily manage all their boating paraphernalia, overhead storage will take a lifetime’s accumulated treasures, and four bedrooms are ready to accommodate children and grandchildren. With the build consented, and LBG Builders poised to get underway, Bruce is looking forward to seeing the house take shape and be enjoyed by the three generations of family it’s been designed for.
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