Since our site revamp I've had a couple of discontent murmurings that our editorials have vanished, so here is the one where we featured in Dwell magazine and the leaflet that was on the old site but is now pretty much incorporated into the younger, better looking version.
Just in case you hadn't noticed, we're officially up and live with our latest website update. We've added a more comprehensive product section, more images and created a simpler, more elegant interface design. We've also combined the old News section into the Box DNA Blog so we now have just one place for all the latest happenings and developments at Box.
As always we appreciate your ideas and thoughts so let us know your feedback or if you have any improvements you would like to see in the next update. Let us know.
We're tearing our hair out with the department of building and housing.
The long and short of it is that we are not allowed to use a particularly good roof membrane (proven in Europe over 40 years on flat - I mean dead flat - roofs) because it's not specifically written in the building code.
The Acceptable Solution is EPDM or Butyl membranes to gutters at 1:100, or 1:60 if not EPDM or butyl. The same goes for roofs under roof decks - 1.5 degrees if EPDM or butyl and 2 degrees if not.
The dumb thing is that these are inferior products compared to many that are currently on the market. There are European testing certificates that prove this.
Yet as usual, common sense seems to be left at the door and by rigidly sticking to the (outdated) book, the council is promoting inferior building products.
Not many people realize that warranties on flat roofs are longer than than those for steel roofs. Just read the warranty information on your steel roof - chances are that it is invalid if you haven't washed it down within the last 6 months.
Membrane roof warranties are often up to 10yrs longer. And some of them include inspections at regular intervals.
Ever thought about the number of screw fixings that get punched in a steel roof?
Know any other first world country that uses tin roof as its primary roofing material?
I suspect, like most Kiwis, I just couldn't imagine living without it....
We're looking to renew our public liability insurance and it was interesting to learn that very few people insure against water ingress or 'leaky buildings' after the recent hysteria.
It's not that we're concerned about leaking homes - quite the contrary since all the rules were tightened and knowing that the materials we use are pretty damn reliable.
It occurred to us that the best insurance is to take an active interest in our homes after their built.
We've never believed that the relationship stops the moment we walk off site - we want to know the homes are performing and where we can improve.
So we're setting up our own guarantee to inspect the homes at regular intervals, long after we've handed you the keys and you're cosily settled into your super-elegant BOX.
I guess we'd rather spend money on providing that service and take an active interest in the life of our buildings, instead of lining the pockets of a broker.
Here's a bit of retro fun for all you doods out there.
BOX Living works with, and is influenced by the following people and companies.
These links will take you away from the BOX website.
Arhaus Construction
Arhaus Construction is a specialist construction company that works for architects mainly on custom designed residential projects. Set up in 2005, Arhaus delivers high quality projects with an environmental edge.
Dorrington Architects & Associates
Dorrington Architects was formed in 2009. They are an award winning practice that believes in the simplicity of buildings using rich natural material palettes.
Simon James Design
Simon James Design is a New Zealand based company committed to developing and manufacturing innovative contemporary furniture for both the residential and commercial market. Established in 1998 by Simon James as a vehicle to distribute his own work, and to introduce international brands to the New Zealand market.
Case Study Houses
The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig and Eero Saarinen, to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United States residential housing boom caused by the end of World War II
Prefab NZ
We are members of Prefab NZ - an organisation that promotes prefab and component buildings in NZ
We're often asked how we're different from other house building companies and I largely addressed most of the technical aspects in this blog post.
We have a different view of houses and what constitutes quality of space, which largely comes from the Modernist post-war movement of the fifties and sixties, inspired by developers such as Joseph Eichler and architects like Craig Ellwood and Richard Neutra, to name just a couple (more to come in another post about Box heritage).
What we love about this style was that often the post and beam structure (timber or steel) which lent itself to large open plan layouts, large glazed areas and beautifully light and well laid-out plans. The honesty of material is noticeable, with the use of steel, timber laminated beams, concrete, timber linings, brick. Lines are elegant and simple. In one word, sophistication.
We would love to develop communities of houses, like Eichler, where it was well known for owners to put a pink flamingo on their lawn at cocktail time. Any of the locals could pop in for a quick drink and chat and the flamingo was an open invitation! Eichler looked beyond the house and how planning could foster that element of 'community'.
Similar to the architectural heritage, we pay a lot of attention to the client's brief and the site, we don't just shoe-horn boxes into any old site. You are spending a lot of money on a house you intend to spend a lot of time in so it is important that it is right - the devil is always in the detail.
And finally, nowadays we pay a lot more attention to the build process as well as the house specifications from an environmental point of view. Again, this will be discussed in more detail later but our selection of materials and the 'modular' aspect of the homes means less waste, faster and more efficient build and lower running costs for the future.
All this aside, the design and build experience is a lot of fun and I think we'll have to bring back the Pink Flamingo....
The conversation generally goes something like this:
"Hi, I'm just looking at some options to build and can you tell me what your cost per square metre is?"
"Erm.. well we don't really work to a cost per square metre, for a three bedroom house you'd be starting at $250k..."
(Silence) "That sounds expensive... I thought modular was meant to be cheaper?"
"Well yes, you get better value for money throughout the process, but the cost per square metre is still more than a house company, less than a bespoke architectural home..."
"OK, thanks" (we never hear from them again).
We will be producing a nicely formatted super-duper pdf in due course but here are some reasons why BOX is simply better (and why we can't do and don't want to do super-cheap).
Doors and windows
are all full height (2.4m), floor to ceiling. This is part of our look, but lets in more light, more ventilation and creates a more pleasant space to be in. Compare this to pretty much anyone else where doors are 2.0m is the standard (maybe 2.2m at a push).
Details
It's the small things like flush thresholds and our 'latchless' doors, low-profile skirting that we love. The devil is in the detail...
We have our signatures like 'pop-ins' and 'pop-outs' which allow things like window seats and cool features. I know we're called 'BOX' but we do go a bit crazy from time to time.
Boutique
- that's us, small and cuddly and extra personable. I don't think any other company will give you the time and attention to detail. That's because we come from an architectural and design background. You get the architect process without the cost. You get the bespoke and personal service from us you won't get with any other company. We love our houses and we want you too to tu 2 (?)
Apples for bananas
We often don't do garages. Strange one this but most of our clients want carports or single garages (or no garage). Which makes a lot of sense for reasons I won't discuss here. But it does mean that the cost per square metre of our houses increase (garages are cheap to build). Since our houses are generally smaller and better designed, there is less of an economy of scale. We could make them larger and the cost per sqm would go down. If you're looking for size over everything, we're probably not for you. If you like good design, well built and detailed homes then give us a call.
Design
OK, probably done this to death but the structures look great, have full height joinery, they're modernist, efficient internally, have some interesting design features like you don't see gutters or downpipes, yet are highly customisable.
Kitchens, bathrooms, lighting
These are all designed by us and our in-house architect for all budgets. We don't subcontract to some cheap kitchen place. We want the design to be good value, to work, to last. We also think there are other materials than MDF to make things out of. We specify Appliances like SMEG or Baumatic. Not the unbranded cheap stuff. It's fair to say that our standard kitchen and bathroom specs are way better.
Internal cabinets and doors
are all full height too. No dust traps, no bulkheads, no wasted space. Just elegant lines.
Quality
of materials is paramount. We use engineered timber beams and posts. We use Rigid Air Barrier instead of building paper. We use Strandboard instead of particle board... but to name a few.
Warm roof
Our BOX Classic homes are built with European-style warm roofs. What this means is that the insulation is on the outside, not the inside. What THIS means is that there will never be any damp or condensation in your roof and there are no thermal bridges created by rafters. A warm roof is simply that.
Lighting
Our lighting plans are designed by us. We don't do one light in the centre of the room or grids of lighting. Light is there to create drama and atmosphere and enhance the living space. We group lights, we use a lot more fittings than any other company would. And they are energy efficient. We believe that good lighting really improves the enjoyment of the space.
Environment
Our background through Arhaus is very conscious of environmental impact. That's why we think modular is the way forward - less waste, more efficient. We use timber a much as we can because it's really suitable to our environment in NZ (no steel). We are well versed in solar water heating, solar power, water collection and reticulation, wastewater treatment, greywater re-use. We can advise and design as appropriate. We don't use stupid materials imported from the ends of the earth. Right here, right now is how we like to do it.
We make it work
As many clients would attest, we make it work. Budgets are always tight and dreams are...expansive. It's always challenging to make the twain meet, but if you are prepared to work with us we'll do our damned hardest to make it work for you.
Hopefully this explains the differences between us and everyone else. Apart from the fact that the houses look very unique, we're different in the way we go about our business. Tired with the current cookie-cutter style and process? Give us a go...
BOX was borne from the simple premise that there just had to be a better way to design and build homes.
The architect and builder processes don't seem to have evolved much over the last couple of hundred years. The process is still inefficient, costly, fraught with uncertainty, subject to the whim of weather Gods. It is testament to human perseverance, vision (and a generous helping of naivety) that people still insist on building their own homes.
The challenge BOX overcomes is to create a system which at the same time can be worked by an architect to suit a site and brief, while also giving certainty of time and cost.
In a sense, BOX is your old-fashioned 'house company', but with a key difference.
Almost every notable house company has its roots in the building industry. The focus is on price - the biggest area possible for the best price. Designs are created with cost to build very much in mind at the expense of quality of space.
On the other hand, history is littered with examples of companies started by designers or architects who have attempted to come at the problem from the design angle without the appreciation of how complex and costly a house can be to build. Most of these ideas have failed because they were just too costly to produce as a result of limited understanding of the building process.
The key is getting the right architect together with the right builders and engineers to create a concept that both allows the architect a certain design freedom with the constraints of a system that has been is efficient to build.
You just have to look at the beautiful lines of a BOX to see how it is different from other house companies. It is very much driven by design, but not at the expense of build efficiency.
One of the best by-products of achieving balance is that you have a product that still requires architectural input because almost every house has a different site and different owner. However, the cost of the architect is greatly reduced because the concept and technical aspects have already been decided. The architect focuses on configuring the system and helping with material selections. You get the value of the architect without the cost usually associated with one-off design.
And because the system has been built before, the costs and construction process is fully understood.
The problem with bespoke architectural builds is that each house is basically a prototype and you have all the issues associated with doing something for the very first time. Not so with BOX. Not only do you have a beautiful modernist building, designed by a leading architect, but you have certainty of cost, build time and value for money.
