Waikato Business News July/August 2018
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
Waikato Business News has for a quarter of a century been the voice of the region’s business community, a business community with a very real commitment to innovation and an ethos of co-operation.
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32 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS <strong>July</strong>/<strong>August</strong> <strong>2018</strong><br />
URBAN HOMES<br />
Rare renovation a Supreme<br />
Winner for Urban Homes<br />
A rare foray into renovations has earned<br />
Hamilton construction company Urban<br />
Homes a Supreme Award at the <strong>Waikato</strong><br />
Registered Master Builders <strong>2018</strong> House of<br />
the Year competition.<br />
By GEOFF TAYLOR<br />
Urban Homes’ transformation<br />
of a 1970s<br />
Ohaupo farmhouse<br />
earned high praise from judges<br />
who said the renovation “seamlessly<br />
created a new character<br />
home with modern conveniences.”<br />
At the <strong>July</strong> 13 awards ceremony<br />
at Claudelands Events<br />
Centre Urban Homes was<br />
awarded the Supreme Renovation<br />
of the Year along with a<br />
Gold Award and Category win<br />
for the Bunnings Renovation<br />
$500,000 - $1 million award.<br />
Urban Homes director Daniel<br />
Klinkenberg was pleased to<br />
win another Supreme Award<br />
although noted that it was<br />
unusual that it came from a<br />
renovation, something Urban<br />
Homes does very little of as a<br />
rule.<br />
“We tend to shy away from<br />
renovations unless it’s very substantial<br />
– and this home was.”<br />
He says the farm house was<br />
well built and “had really good<br />
bones” and a nice setting but<br />
wasn’t built to maximise the<br />
sun and didn’t allow much light<br />
in.<br />
This is a beautiful<br />
renovation that has<br />
been finished to a<br />
very high standard,<br />
a worthy Supreme<br />
winner.<br />
“We gutted the inside, lifted<br />
the windows and doors, raised<br />
the ceilings in the living areas<br />
and made the house more open<br />
plan. We also put in a covered<br />
outdoor living area,” he says.<br />
Daniel says the project,<br />
which took about 28 weeks and<br />
was completed in October 2017<br />
“maximises the awesome setting,<br />
ensures the house gets the<br />
maximum amount of sunlight<br />
and encourages indoor/outdoor<br />
living”.<br />
He acknowledges the renovation<br />
was a challenging job.<br />
“The vision we settled on in<br />
conjunction with the client, was<br />
to ensure that on completion,<br />
you would walk into it and not<br />
know that it has been an existing<br />
home,” he says.<br />
The judges said they were<br />
in no doubt Urban Homes<br />
achieved its goal.<br />
“The house was completely<br />
modernised. It gives the impression<br />
that it is a new house – it is<br />
impossible to see what was old<br />
and what was new.<br />
“The renovation was beautifully<br />
designed and seamlessly<br />
constructed, creating a better<br />
insulated modern home that<br />
maximises the sun and fantastic<br />
views.<br />
“This is a beautiful renovation<br />
that has been finished to a<br />
very high standard, a worthy<br />
Supreme winner.”<br />
Daniel says as Urban Homes<br />
grows and builds more houses<br />
each year, a major focus is to<br />
ensure nothing is lost in terms<br />
of quality.<br />
“This Supreme Award was<br />
validation for us and peace of<br />
mind that we are still hitting<br />
that excellence we set out to<br />
achieve.”<br />
The company which now<br />
employs 35 full-time staff and<br />
many sub-contractors also won<br />
awards for three other homes in<br />
the competition. Urban Homes<br />
won a Gold Award and Category<br />
win for the New Home<br />
$550,00 - $700,000, a Gold<br />
Award and Category win for the<br />
Volume/Group Housing New<br />
Home $450,000 - $700,000 and<br />
a Gold Award for the GIB Show<br />
Home Award.<br />
Volume/Group Housing New Home<br />
$450,000 - $700,000<br />
URBAN HOMES<br />
Situated in St Kilda, this sprawling family<br />
home rests on a private northfacing site.<br />
The spacious 298sqm layout serves up<br />
four good-sized bedrooms, two chic<br />
bathrooms and dual living spaces – one<br />
open-plan, the other a traditional lounge.<br />
Generous room sizes and<br />
fully tiled wet areas<br />
perfectly suit the owners’<br />
lifestyle. The outlook onto<br />
wetlands provides a pleasant<br />
backdrop to everyday life. The<br />
easy flow of the home extends<br />
outside to multiple alfresco<br />
spaces, including a large portico<br />
lounge, encouraging everyone<br />
to connect with nature. All-day<br />
sun blesses the home.<br />
An entertainer’s kitchen,<br />
complete with scullery serves<br />
the masses. Maximising its<br />
energy-efficiency credentials,<br />
this home features grid-connected<br />
solar panels to keep<br />
running costs down. A fully<br />
buried grey-water tank feeds<br />
Outdoorsy<br />
type<br />
CAMBRIDGE<br />
the hose taps, toilets and laundry.<br />
Upgraded insulation has<br />
been used throughout to keep<br />
warm vibes in. Finished in a<br />
cloak of stunning painted brick<br />
and cedar, this home stands out<br />
from the rest. Photography by<br />
Jason Tregurth<br />
Professional personal tiling service<br />
For all your tiling needs<br />
Interior and exterior<br />
Walls and floors<br />
“Congratulations to Daniel and the team at Urban Homes”<br />
twc LTD James McMorran<br />
P 021 587 214 | E james@twctiling.co.nz<br />
J8577P
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