With the demand for architecture services around New Zealand increasing, Arcline has branched out into various regions around the country. We joined the Whanganui Architecture industry with this practical home design in a residential suburb of town.
Our client for this project approached us with a large 1400m² section in Springvale, with an existing house to be removed. After considering the brief and meeting onsite the design direction was chosen. To build a 278m² home with ample living, bedrooms and a spacious vibe.
Hardy Construction were the chosen builders and have kindly provided us with these images of the build progressing, take a look below.
Whanganui Architecture – The Foundations of a Great Home
Firstly, with sand underfoot, the builders begun preparing the boxing and bracing for the ribraft slab. Ribraft slabs have polystyrene blocks which the concrete flows around and on top of, and has no foundations actually protruding into the ground. Most importantly, this allows the slab to ‘float’ on top of the ground in the case of an earthquake.
After that, the concrete trucks and pump arrive – pour day. This is a few hours job that is critical to the success of the build. The concrete must be laid quickly with no pauses, and trowelled and floated correctly to ensure the best finish for the home to be built upon.
Standing the Frames
You may have heard of the words ‘precut, prenail’ relating to framing in a house. In other words, they’re built in the factory, arrive on a truck and the builders stand the frames and bolt them to the concrete in the correct order. Within a day a flat slab turns into what’s starting to look like a home.
On this Whanganui Architecture project the builders have used LVL framing (laminated veneer lumber). LVL framing is straighter, truer and stronger than traditional SG8 pine, meaning for a nicer end result.
Trusses Arrive
After the frames are stood, straightened and fixed to the concrete, the trusses are ready to go. These are lifted on top and fixed to the ‘top plate’ of the framing. This home had a mix of standard trusses, attic trusses and scissor trusses, for different spaces inside.
Secondly, purlins are fixed horizontally along the truss ‘top-plate’ to further stiffen the roof. These also provide a strong fixing location for the roofing material to be fixed to.
Lastly, roof valleys are formed, chimney framing completed and fascia’s added, ready for the roofing to arrive.
Whanganui Architecture – Turning Dreams into Reality
This is a sneak preview of what goes into a build. Moreover, it proves that we can work anywhere in the country, distance is no barrier. Being part of this Whanganui architectural design has been a pleasure and we will share further progress pictures as this project progresses.
Most importantly, if you’ve got a project coming up – reach out to us now to discuss.
