86 | Homestar rating a focus High performance housing, including Homestar rated homes, is a focus for Arete Architects. ARCHITECTURE Arete Architects T T Richard Loader After seeing much of the world through overseas travels Sam Brown returned to New Zealand and established Arete rchitects in 2021 with a vision to create predominantly residential architecture that exists more harmoniously within the environment. “I had seen the impact of climate change during my travels and wanted a practice that had a clear focus on sustainability and sustainable architectural design. The focus has been refined over the years we have been operating as we’ve been able to put real life projects in to play, and see how they respond to the environment. We’ve been able to come up with new methods to achieve the initial goal, which has led us down the path of high performance housing, including Homestar rated homes, particularly in new builds.” When Arete Architects started to move into the high performance housing realm what they looked for was a metric that they could hold themselves accountable to. Sam says Homestar took into consideration thermal performance, energy performance, embodied carbon, cradle-to-cradle materials, water usage, and proximity to amenities. “The majority of the builds we’ve done recently have all been Homestar rated under the new Version 5, and we’ve bult up expertise in that area. From the clients’ perspective they know the house will be warm, healthy, comfortable, dry, last a long time, won’t damage the planet and the energy bills will be lower.” The most succinct way to describe Sam’s passion for his craft is simply that he wants to make a difference. “As architects we have this unique opportunity to have a positive impact on the built environment and therefore people’s lives, and there are not many professions where you are offered that opportunity to do that at varying scales. It could be at the micro with a oneoff residential home, through to the macro, where you are doing larger civil or commercial projects. But whatever we do it is inevitably going to impact people. So, creating a better environment for everyone to live in is one of the biggest drivers for me.” That scale was highlighted at the 2024 NZIA Wellington Architecture Awards, where Arete Architects won a Small Projects award for The Karaka Tower, a 9sqm tower that is an artist’s bedroom/studio adjacent to the clients existing family home. In contrast to that, Sam and his team are currently working on a fifty-home master planned residential development. Although residential architecture remains the key focus for Arete Architects, Sam says the company has also undertaken a number of hospitality projects. Mojo Coffee Roasters is one of our anchor clients and we do quite a bit of work for other commercial clients, including adjunct work with seismic strengthening and the architectural integration.” While Arete Architects’ primary office is in Wellington, the practice has a small studio in Lake Hawea, where Sam works a week each month. “Our skill set transitions throughout the country, and so we provide architectural services throughout New Zealand. For the majority of our projects we offer the full service from concept design through to contract administration, so we’re with the client all the way through the build right up to the point where they move in.” A key to the successful customer experience is Sam’s focus on assembling a strong design/ construction project team as early as possible that embraces themselves, the client, other consultants and the contractors. “The objective is to get everyone focused on the same goal and ensure everyone has the same buyin, the passion is there throughout the project and ultimately it leads to the best result.” Sharing the vision is Sam’s business partner Jonny Fletcher who bought into the business early 2022 and is now and equal owner. Honest, reliable and professional Master Electricians Servicing the Wellington region Renovations | Ventilation | Architectural New Builds 04 460 2369 fellowelectrical.co.nz www.taylorplumbingandgas.nz 021661414 Proudly supporting Arete Architects 021 398 800 martin@lmatimber.co.nz www.lmatimber.co.nz Reclaimed & Sustainably Sourced Australian Hardwoods Cladding • Decking Structural Beams / Posts • Flooring
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