The Design Process
How an Ecotectural home gets designed: the brief, the site, the floor plan and the light and detail, before a single wall goes up.
Written for people planning a home in Nelson, Tasman, Richmond, Motueka and across the top of the South. New to the terms below? Our glossary explains them in plain English.
What Is Design and Build? A Plain-English Guide for New Zealand Homeowners
Design and build in plain English: what it means, how it compares to the traditional tender route, how the process runs, what it costs in New Zealand, and its real benefits and trade-offs.
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What’s Included in a Design and Build Service? A New Zealand Guide
What a design and build service actually covers: brief, concept and developed design, the architect and engineer, council consents, construction, handover and aftercare, plus what is usually an added scope or excluded, and why confirming it in writing matters.
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Design and Build and Passive House: Designing for Performance From Day One
Why a high-performance home is easier to achieve through design and build: engaging the builder, engineer and energy consultant at concept, modelling performance before construction, and what a Passive Home really costs to design and build in New Zealand.
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How a Home Is Designed: The Thinking Behind a House That Works
How a home is really designed: it is a process of thinking, not a single drawing. From the brief and the site, through concept, developed and detailed design to building consent, and how open-book pricing keeps design and budget connected.
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The Design Brief: The Questions to Answer Before Anyone Draws a Plan
A design brief captures how you want to live, your site, your budget and your non-negotiables before any plan is drawn. Here are the real questions it should answer, and why solving them on paper first saves money.
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Reading Your Site: Sun, Wind, Slope, Views and Access
A good home starts with the land. How to read a Nelson Tasman site for sun, slope, ground, wind, views and access, and why those fixed realities shape the design, the comfort and the cost long before any drawing.
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How a Floor Plan Actually Works: Flow, Zoning and North-Facing Living
How a floor plan really works: what makes a good one, how zoning groups rooms by use, why north-facing living matters in New Zealand, how circulation and flow shape daily life, and the common mistakes to avoid.
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Getting Light and Space Right: Ceiling Height, Glazing and Connection to Outside
How light and a sense of space really come about: proportion, ceiling height, glazing that performs thermally, and connection to the outside, not just floor area.
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What a Good Designer Wishes Every Client Knew Before the First Meeting
A generous look at what actually helps your designer: come with how you want to live and an honest budget rather than a finished plan, let the site lead, and keep design, budget and buildability at one table from the start.
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