It’s 2.22pm in the BOON office. The team has returned from lunch, or a boxfit class.
To the left of the studio, Daniel and Taine talk over technical interventions into the landscape. To the right Connor and David debate the most effective way to achieve a cladding detail for a new house. Murali moves in and out of the foyer adjourning a design team hui before going into his next client presentation. Computer clicks are coming from everywhere else in the office and Gangs of Youths grace the sonos speakers. Our most recent additions to the BOON team, and Taranaki, Jane from Christchurch and Jason from South Africa, are fast becoming acquainted with design life operating in regional Aotearoa . It’s in this humble building, once a small corner shop dairy and now a bustling design studio, where projects of all scales from stadiums to sleep-outs come to life. Here, we design, formulate, test and deliver rigorous feasibility studies that achieve often long-held dreams – and, crucially, obtain the necessary building consent.
It takes a bit of work to get to code of compliance. Anyone who has embarked on a construction project will know the commitment and perseverance needed to get projects off the ground and see them through to the finish line. Recently, building and development projects across the country were impacted by logistic issues, resourcing and staff shortages, as well as a disrupted supply chain. That means celebrating achievements in the built environment is very important considering the dedication needed to make them a reality. Our team are but one part of the puzzle involved in this process. Together with our clients, consultants, and construction partners we are committed to place-making and crucially, forming connections with people and place. In our industry, celebrating ‘the good’ or the wins, so to speak, must be reinforced with reflection to figure out the why and the how of these achievements; it is this process which fulfils more good in our environment.