Yes, it’s been a while since Alan Simpkin, our founder, set out on his own. Now, after a good 30 years, the Arcline brand is a solid, dependable name with literally thousands of projects in our portfolio.
Just to give you an idea, averaging 100 projects a year adds up to a whopping 3,000 homes and buildings we’ve worked on! And that doesn’t even consider some of the larger projects where up to a 100 homes were included in the projects.
It’s been an amazing journey, and the Arcline Team are celebrating this milestone, one that very few firms get to reach.
Prior to 1993
After leaving school, our Founder Alan Simpkin went straight into the building industry. He first worked for a company building steel sheds, welding portals and erecting the sheds on site, while training for an NZ Certification in Mechanical Engineering. He then went to work for a building company and completed a Building Apprenticeship and NZ Certification in Architectural Technology. These years included time in the Joinery Factory designing and making kitchens, doing commercial fitouts, timber windows and doors and kitset panel homes which were being exported to New Calidonia and Samoa.
This hands on, practical building experience is a skill our clients benefit in from every day, the practical know-how of building, behind the eyes of a designer.
Starting Out On His Own, in 1993
Then 30 years ago, in 1993, Alan decided to go out on his own. For the first 10 years the new company focused on the design and build of steel framed homes, and a mix of commercial projects. There were larger projects in these years, the likes of Carrington Estate – and many homes along NZ coastlines, under the brand of Estate Homes.
After completing a Building Biology Diploma a niche market was established with Ecohomes, including homes with solar power energy (not so common back then!), rammed earth walls, composting toilets alongside more high tech sustainable architecture.
Switching to Design-Only, in 2003
Then in 2003, the decision was made to wind down the building side of the business, and focus efforts in the attention to detail of designing, planning and consenting homes. With regulations and design and plan requirements getting greater by the year, more and more input was needed to ensure homes and buildings were detailed well to ensure a better building experience for our clients.
20 years later, with a strong design focus and a great team of designers surrounding Alan, we’ve never looked back!
Between 2003 & Today (20 Years!)
We’re not going to hide it, a lot has happened. In 2008 Tristan, Alan’s first Son, joined the Team, and completed his Licensed Building Practicioner in Design certificate. Trent, Alans second Son, joined Arcline in 2017, and both have been taking up the leadership and management of Arcline, allowing Alan to focus solely on the initial design concepts with our Clients.
So after 30 years in the design and construction industry, with thousands of projects behind us, your project is in very, very safe hands.
The Most Unusual Projects
As you can appreciate, after 30 years we’ve worked on some fairly unusual projects. One was the Shell House in Mangonui, Doubtless Bay. Our Client arrived with a Turban shaped shell and a Scallop shell and said I want a house like this! With no straight lines in the rooms, and three hundred and twenty nogs in the roof, all different lengths and compound cut angles, it was a tricky one to design & build. We even got Massey University to supply a spreadsheet for cutting them, to both give students a challenge and assist the build process.
At the other end of the scale has been some large projects, like the 40 million dollar retirement complex for Metlifecare, The Orchards, in Auckland.
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'52 Tips For Designing & Building Your Home'
30 Years of Experience – You’re in safe hands
They say it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert at something. Well we’ve done plenty more than that, and have well over 100 years combined experience with our in-house team.
You can be assured that every project is treated with care, attention, and as if it’s our own. Put your trust in our team today, and talk to us about your project.
