| 41 Top designs a natural progression T T Karen Phelps It’s all about the client and their needs and finding the best solutions, says architectural designer David Todd. ARCHITECTURE ADNZ: David Todd Architectural Design The natural progression of what he enjoyed during his teenage years led David Todd on a course to become an architectural designer. Tech drawing was his entry to the industry while at high school. He then studied at Christchurch Polytechnic for one year then continued to study part time while working in an architect’s office. It’s a pathway he would still recommend today. “I feel this gives a better grounding because you understand how buildings go together. It’s not just theory – you put things into practice. I’ve learned more in this way than just studying full time.” David then progressed to working for a friend in Nelson with his own architectural design business where they worked on a variety of residential and commercial projects. A year later the pair went into business together. In 2001 David bought the partner out. He’s now been working in the industry for around 46 years with 40 years of that time spent in Nelson. What David loves about his job is taking the client’s desires and wishes and getting those to a point that fulfils what they achieve within their budget. “Clients come with the big picture vision, budget and constraints of a site and then my job is to put all of that together to come up with a design solution. You must go in with a fresh mind-set every time as every client and site is different. I’ll even do things I wouldn’t have done myself on occasion because the client wants it. So it’s all about the client and their needs and finding the best solutions. Every project is a puzzle and it’s about solving that puzzle.” New and progressive materials and techniques are also exciting. “We can always look at doing things differently and be willing to innovate,” says David. He’s worked on such a variety of projects over virtually every aspect of the industry that it’s hard to pick stand out projects from his career but a couple of renovation projects spring to mind – particularly challenging as he must combine existing with new. An example is Hope Community Church project. David took an older building, expanded and modernised it transforming it into something quite spectacular for the community. The original church was retained and converted into a youth hall and a full commercial kitchen capable of catering for weddings and socials was provided. As the church property was set in the horticulture region 15km from Nelson the client wanted a building that was rural in character and fitted into the vineyard scene. The centre pivot point is the café with indoor/ outdoor flow. From this there is direct access to the 450-seat auditorium, which has state of the art audio, sound and lighting equipment suitable for modern churches and community groups to perform productions. A residential stand out renovation project was Turama, a 1922 California Bungalow in Arts & Crafts tradition. David says it had “sound bones” but needed to be brought into the 21st century. Ceiling beams, feature post, architraves etc all characteristic of the Arts & Crafts movement were to be retained and refurbished. The result includes a large double garage with tiled deck and an orangery as a stand-alone building to give indoor/outdoor living spaces to enjoy the view of Haulashore Island, the harbour and the western ranges. David’s respected local reputation sees him working predominantly in Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough Sounds. David has been an ADNZ member since 1988 and was given Life Membership of ADNZ in 2008. He has also been a national president and local branch president as well as serving on the national executive. He says being a member enables him to share ideas and expertise with fellow designers across the country. • New Homes • Renovations • Extensions • Bathrooms Nelson/Tasman Region Phone: 03 544 1295 info@dunleabuilding.co.nz www.dunleabuilding.co.nz New Builds Renovations Wooden Joinery Project Management Proudly supporting David Todd john@cunninghamconstruction.co.nz 027 481 2481 www.cunninghamconstruction.co.nz 146 Vanguard Street, Nelson 7010
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