Builders’ work on two Tauranga properties impresses House of the Year judges

Calley Homes built this Tauranga property, which won them an award at this year’s Registered Master Builders House of the Year awards. Photo / Supplied

Two Tauranga homes have won top awards in this year’s Registered Master Builders House of the Year competition.

The industry celebrated the House of the Year national awards in person for the first time in two years on Saturday, with nearly 300 entries across eight regions. The awards celebrate the best homes, renovations, and builders across Aotearoa.

Calley Homes won the National Resene New Home $2 million - $4 million category, for a home in Welcome Bay.

Company director Johnny Calley said it was a special moment for Calley Homes, and reflected its team’s efforts to “provide excellence in every project”.

Calley Homes director Johnny Calley. Photo / Salina Galvan Photography / Supplied

He said the building industry had many obstacles throughout the pandemic, so to get some reward after all that uncertainty meant a lot to them.

“This project’s success was a result of seamless collaboration between ourselves, the architect Cate Creemers, and our client from the outset.

“This is a beautiful home that’s been crafted with care and patience, and we are extremely proud of the result.”

Calley Homes won the National Resene New Home $2 million - $4 million category, for this Welcome Bay home. Photo / Supplied

Judging comments highlighted that the home is perched on the ridge of a hill and had been designed to take advantage of the Tauranga views.

“A large pivot oak door welcomes visitors into the lobby, which features a burnished polished concrete floor.

“This attention to detail is followed throughout the interior joinery, with another feature pivot door revealing the main living wing, which is terraced down to a sunken lounge.”

Pre-cast concrete panels act as the core of the living wing; they both anchor the home structurally and provide an architectural feature within the space.

“The attention to detail is evident wherever you look in this house. It has resulted in a beautiful and functional family home.”

The builders of a Pāpāmoa house claimed the National Pink Batts Craftsmanship Award.

Framed Builders took on the beachside angular home, and the judge’s comments described how it had been built on a challenging and narrow site.

Framed Builders took on this challenging project in Tauranga. Photo / Supplied

Despite this, it is a “masterpiece” that showcases leading architectural design, which they said was all crafted to perfection by the builder.

An outstanding aspect of the home is the exterior cladding - it sports a feature wall of “off the boards” and in-situ concrete, which is also exposed internally.

“Another feature [is] the boards on the deck that line perfectly through into the interior passage, and then up the wall to the matching sliding doors. There are multiple interior timber walls and ceilings which have been fitted skilfully to the sloping ceiling. This is an intriguing home, and the result is nothing short of impressive.”

Owner and director Brett Fleming was proud of his team, including foreman Mike Blackwell, for what he described as a really difficult build.

“Couldn’t have done it without him.”

The Pāpāmoa house was designed by Auckland firm Michael Cooper Architects, and Fleming’s company won the tender process to build it. It took about a year-and-a-half to complete, but adding a swimming pool after it was finished added some time. It was fully finished in 2021.

Framed Builders owner and director Brett Fleming said this Pāpāmoa build was complex. Photo / Supplied

Fleming said it was a complex build, completely different to anything they had taken on before.

“It let us show what we are capable of.”

For him, the craftsmanship award was the best a builder could hope for at the awards, given they were not involved in the design process.

Both the clients and the architect had been easy to work with, he said, but the design itself was not so much, with the concrete wall testing the team’s skills.

“It could have gone wrong really easily.”

Rotorua’s Urbo Homes won both the National Renovation up to $750,000 category, as well as the National Special Award for its work on a 100-year-old fishing cottage at Lake Rotoiti.