How long should a house last? It’s not a question we ask very often, but perhaps we should. In New Zealand, the Building Code states that the main structure of a house is legally required to have a minimum life of 50 years. While different building elements are also assigned

It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot recently. For many people, the appeal of a group home builder is obvious. There’s a familiar process, fixed pricing, one point of contact and, at least on the surface, a sense of certainty. It feels simple, and in a world where

We often think of architecture in terms of what we can see. Form, material, proportion, light. The crafted elements that shape how a building is experienced. But some of the most critical systems that shape how our buildings perform are the ones we never see. Wastewater. Stormwater. Energy. They sit

This month, we attended a technical seminar focused on recent updates to the H1 Energy Efficiency clause of the New Zealand Building Code. While these changes may seem technical, they represent a significant shift in how we approach design. Historically, compliance often meant meeting minimum requirements for individual building elements,

The New Zealand housing industry is navigating one of its most challenging periods in decades. High material costs, elevated interest rates, and reduced government investment have slowed projects across the country. Many architectural practices are competing harder for fewer commissions, and residential work is increasingly shaped by developer-led efficiencies rather

Heating and new building regulations are a hot topic in today’s market. But good design naturally meets, and often exceeds, those standards without needing to retrofit solutions or add costly upgrades later. At HB Architecture, we take a holistic approach, integrating environmental factors and time-tested principles to create homes that

I still remember my first day working in an architecture studio. I was handed a blank sheet of paper. No template. No brief. Just space to think, to draw, to begin. That moment marked the true start of architecture for me. Even now, more than 50 years later, I remember

Every time I return to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds, I’m reminded that buildings have their own kind of life. The architecture here was designed to belong to the land, to the stories it holds, and to the people who come to experience it. Over time, the land has completed the

There’s something irreplaceable about sketching by hand. Recently, I shared a small hand-drawn “book” of sketches with a client, rough ideas that evolved with the project. Their response reminded me of a quote from Juhani Pallasmaa in The Thinking Hand: “The pencil in the architect’s hand is a bridge between