Prefab #24 June News 2012 Options

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#24 June News 2012 1 June 2012


Welcome to PrefabNZ, the hub for prebuilt construction:
• a catalyst for prefab collaboration,
• a front-door-portal for prefab information and
• an incubator for prefab innovation
Welcome to the new PrefabNZ News format. In mid-June we are launching a new and exclusive Members News bulletin with the tastiest tidbits from PrefabNZ’s work in progress, plus topical in-depth items. We will also be sending out a refreshed HIVE News to our community of HIVE housing teams, partners, supporters and interested public. Thanks for your continuing interest in prebuilt construction as a way to address New Zealand's construction challenges..

NZ Wood PrefabNZ Wellington Event – 12 June
We’re looking forward to the NZ Wood PrefabNZ Wellington Event coming up on 12 June. The event is kindly sponsored by NZ Wood and hosted by the College of Creative Arts (CoCA) at Massey University, Wellington. The event will run from 12.30 – 5pm.

The afternoon will include presentations on the new CoCA building at Massey University’s Wellington campus. We will hear from the architects, suppliers, contractors and client on the use of prefabricated elements in the design and build. Afternoon tea will be provided and the event will finish with drinks so you can continue your conversations.

This event has 40 CPD points for registered architects (NZRAB) and 4 LBP points.

The event is $50 for members and $100 for non-members. We would love to see you there, find out more and register here.

PrefabNZ AGM 2012 – 12 June
Directly preceding the NZ Wood PrefabNZ Wellington Event will be the PrefabNZ 2012 AGM, also located at Massey University, Wellington. The AGM is open and free to all members and non-members. Find out more about the AGM and the election of Board Members here.


HIVE update – It’s a juggle
The Stage One homes at HIVE are now all complete and open to the public. HIVE Home Innovation Vilalge is now open Wednesday – Sunday 12-4pm at Canterbury Agricultural Park (Curletts Road).

As well as the teams already on site we have three more confirmed housing teams for Stage Two. Stage Two will be rolling out over the coming months – we look forward to seeing the HIVE site filling up! Stage Two teams are:
• Beacon Pathway with New Zealand Steel, Rollforming Services and Salmond Architecture
• Bainbridge Homes with Module NZ
• Hybrid Homes / Ekokit

We have oversubscribed interest in the last few spots at HIVE – the final three Stage Three homes will be deicided on 12 June. See more about HIVE here.


PrefabNZ Members in the News
CERA has announced the firms that will develop a blueprint for Christchurch’s central city rebuild. PrefabNZ member Boffa Miskell will lead a consortium which includes representatives from Populous, Woods Bagot, Sheppard and Rout, Warren and Mahoney and RCP. Read more about the blueprint.

The 2012 New Zealanbd Architecture Awards dishes out accolades to PrefabNZ members. Stanley Group received praise for the Knoll Ridge Café and Irving Jack Smith received attention for the Nelson's NMIT Arts and Media Building. Find out more about their projects and other winners.

Take a look at the lastest updates on Unitec’s Studio 19. Unitec is a PrefabNZ and SGA, also a PrefabNZ m ember, is providing guidance and assistance to the group. Find out more about Studio 19.

PrefabNZ member Lockwood Canterbury’s big brother in the news - talking about Lockwood's innovative approach to well-structured housing that lasts and how they have built a strong reputation in New Zealand. Read more about Lockwood.

Congratulations to all organisations who will receive funding through either the Niche, Maori or Rural fund segments of this year’s $37.35 million Social Housing Fund. They are all CHA member organisations: - CHA (Community Housing Aotearoa) is a member of PrefabNZ



Canterbury News
Christchurch has become a major hub for jobs growth – find out which skills are in highest demand in Christchurch.

Read more about the challenge to accommodate the thousands of workers coming to the city here.

Sir Robert Jones says the Christchurch CBD should be turned into a giant lake surrounded by a mix of low-rise commercial, retail and residential clusters. Find out more about these plans and the reactions to them.

The first large commercial building built in Christchurch since the February quake is, fittingly, the new home of an engineering consultancy. Read the full story here.

A new paper on the performance of engineered timber structure in the Canterbury earthquakes has been written by Andrew Buchanan, David Carradine and Justin Jordan. Read the full paper here.

The Department of Building and Housing has published technical guidance for repairing and rebuilding foundations in Technical Category 3 (TC3) areas of Canterbury. View the guidance document here

The experience of Queenstown could provide the answer to fixing Christchurch's affordable housing shortage. Find out more here.

Fletcher Building's aluminium division has come to Christchurch, pumping about $5 million into a window and door-finishing factory in Wigram. Find out more here.


Local News
Business confidence in New Zealand's biggest city has plummeted over the past three months, according to the Auckland Chamber of Commerce's Business confidence survey. Find out more about the survey’s findings.

The economy may be hitting a pothole in the June quarter, according to the ANZ Bank's "Truckometer" – a measure of traffic around the country. Find how a “Truckometer” works and what the light at the end of the tunnel may be.

Creating Communities - a group of three experienced development companies have joined forces as the preferred partner for Housing New Zealand’s redevelopment in northern Glen Innes. Find out more about Creative Communities and the redevelopment.


International News
For years analysts have warned of a looming real estate bubble in China. Find out more about the situation in China.

Microsoft’s “Home of the Future” was built at its head office in Redmond, Washington – features include a palm scan to open the front door and a fridge that allows you to check its contents while out shopping. Read more about here.

Two prefab veterans, Jared Levy and Gordon Stott, both formerly with Marmol Radziner Prefab have launched a new US prefab company called Connect:Homes. Find out more about the new prefab company here. See image below left.

Three years after the collapse of the US housing market buried her modular home business and after she sold her iconic designs to Blu Homes in California, Michelle Kaufmann is flourishing. Read the full article on what Michelle Kaufmann is up to.

At Milan 2012: London designers 00:/recently showed visitors to Milan’s most famous department store how to construct a wooden house from a downloaded open-source kit of parts. Watch the video clip here. See image below centre.

The multi-award winning design for the Wales Institute for Sustainable Education (WISE) building is a showcase for sustainable building techniques with timber playing a key role. < a target="_blank" href="http://www.prefabnz.com/lists/lt.php?id=eEhXCQEEBwdXTQRbSFVSBQ%3D%3D" >Find out more about the design. See image below right.


Upcoming Events
The call for entries for the Best Design Awards 2012 is now open til July 6th. For more information on the awards and to enter visit the website.

2011 Best Design Awards winners speak in Christchurch 6 June and Dunedin 7 June. For more information on who will be speaking and to book tickets for Christchurch click here, and for Dunedin click here.

The BRANZ BEES Seminar is taking place in Christchurch (13 July), Wellington (19 July) and Auckland (23 July). The free seminar will give an update on the results of the BEES research project into resource use and indoor environments in New Zealand’s non-residentia l buildings. Find out more about the seminars and how you can catch one of them here.

The NZ Concrete Society Seminar Series 2012 presents: Damage Control Design – Conceptual Design and Practical Implementation. The Seminars will take place in Christchurch (20 June), Wellington (21 June), Auckland (28 June). Find out more here.

Tonkin’s Modular Construction Conference will be held on the 30th July-1st August at the Medina Grand, Perth. The conference will focus on the advancements within resource sector modular construction and how this will affect the wider construction industry. Find out more at the website.

Dwell on Design – the three-day celebration of modern design, curated by the editors of Dwell Magazine is taking place this month in Los Angeles. It will take place from June 22-24, find out more at the website.



Signtech the Signmakers
Signtech is a Gold level Sponsor of the HIVE – Home Innovation Village. Read on to learn a little more about Signtech who have been operating in New Zealand for almost 20 years.

The mantra “we listen, advise, design, manufacture and install” is the basis of all business Signtech has done since their formation on 1 October 1993. They embrace traditional crafts and the latest in technology enabling them to cater for the widest range of product. They are market led not production driven, which is something they consider essential to maintain a reputation for creativity and as a one-stop supplier.

The company works with a wide range of signage from simple corflute sig ns or a name on a vehicle, through to 3-dimensional signage, all forms of illuminated signage (especially LED and neon) and digital printing. They are also moving into window films, such as security films and sun-control films. They also supply anti-scratch, anti-reflective and decorative films for glass, e.g. patterns, images and text – which are now relatively easy to create.

The team from Signtech has this to say to designers and architects: “We urge you to talk to us early in your project. This enables you to see examples of our work that will complement your work. Any structural amendments such as wiring or strengthening can be incorporated into the building so the best solution can be integrated rather than signage appearing as a ‘clip-on’ with associated support structures.”

To view some of the iconic signs and award winning signs Signtech has completed take a look at their website. To contact the team at Signtech email info@signtech.co.nz or call 0800 348 8116


Superloo Rises To The Challenge
Superloo Sanitation Ltd, proud sponsor of HIVE, is widely regarded as the number one provider of portable toilet solutions nationwide, and has built its reputation around a dedication to quality, service, cleanliness and the healthy wellbeing of their customers and staff. With thousands of portable toilets located around the country, Superloo offers a range of high quality products and services to both the construction and events industries.

In September 2010 Superloo was in the early stages of developing its Christchurch branch, but when the first earthquake hit the resourcing requirements changed dramatically. Superloo was soon in touch with the authorities offering help and immediately committed an initial 200 toilets.

In February 2011, all hell broke loose again, when the second devastating shock hit Christchurch and knocked out more of Christchurch’s sewerage pipelines and systems. This time the need was even greater and as a result Civil Defense purchased a thousand of their own portable toilets in addition to the thousands already on the streets. Superloo was one of a handful of suppliers requested to tender to service these toilets, and were subsequently contracted to look after 400 of them on a daily basis. With its wealth of experience, Superloo initiated more local recruiting, relocation of resources, including trucks and man-power were able to rise to and meet a part of the challenge Christchurch faced.

Superloo received glowing references from the authorities and was cited as the benchmark to which the other providers were measured.

Now thankfully the emergency aspects have subsided significantly. The task of rebuilding has commenced and Superloo is well positioned to meet the needs of the rebuild. Having been on the ground through this very traumatic time, Superloo has a strong sen se of what the Christchurch people want and how to provide it.

Contact Superloo:- Tel: 0800 500 205; Email: enquiries@superloo.co.nz; Web: www.superloo.co.nz

Eye-candy to inspire
From the too-gorgeous file – check out the fantastic creations from Fantastic Norway – some of which you may have spotted in the pages of Dwell magazine before including the pre-designed Triangle cabin. Take a look at the designs from Fantastic Norway here.


Pamela Bell for
PrefabNZ Incorporated

PO Box 19-063
Courtenay Place
Wellington 6149

Phone / Pamela Bell + (64) 21 972 635
Email / info@prefabnz.com
All content © 2012 PrefabNZ
www.prefabnz.com