Craftsmanship and attention to detail have paid off for the builders of two Queenstown homes who won huge accolades at the recent Registered Master Builders’ national House of the Year awards.
Form Construction co-owner Hamish Noton won the coveted overall craftsmanship award, and builder’s own home award, for his Lake Hayes
home, ‘Benloch’.
Lakes Building Co owners Stu Clark and Mark Ladbrook took out the ‘new home $1.5 million-$2m’ category for an out-of-the ordinary Jack’s
Point holiday home.
Of Noton’s 442 square metre, four-bedroom, three-level home, constructed on what was deemed to be an ‘‘unbuildable site’’, the judges were ‘‘blown away by the level of care and skill displayed, which was second to none’’.
The craftsmanship gong, Noton notes, is ‘‘probably one of the ones everyone wants to win the most — I don’t know if it comes much bigger in our industry’’.
Celebrating: From left, Form Construction directors Sarah and Hamish Noton and Richard and Anisha Capstick
‘‘It’s very special, pretty humbling, and we’re just honoured and over the moon.
‘‘To win that award, perfection is paramount — the level of skill, quality, the attention to detail was next-level.’’
Noton also designed the house, which took three-and-a-half years to build between jobs for high-end clients.
He believes his OCD with regard to the fine details was a major factor behind his craftsmanship win — ‘‘every single thing was looked at with a fine-tooth comb … everything was fussed over’’.
He admits spending hours stewing over details — ‘‘I have a very patient family’’.
Those details include two amazing stairwells, carrying over external raw materials like black steel, schist, concrete and timber into the interior and even minor things like kitchen joinery handles, as well as the house’s overall commitment to sustainability.
Another award for Jack’s Point holiday home
Reflecting on winning the $1.5m-$2m category for a Jack’s Point home called ‘The Crib’, Lakes Building Co founder/co-owner Stu Clark says it’s dawned on him the accolade’s ‘‘a bit bigger than I had probably anticipated’’.
‘‘To be in the top-100 in the country and the best house in its price bracket is pretty good’’ — and the biggest honour in the company’s 14 years.
Category winner: Lakes Building Co won the $1.5m-$2m category for this Jack’s Point build
Built as a holiday home and eventual retirement home for Wellington couple Fiona and Tim Arbuckle, it was inspired by simple Nordic cabins, ‘‘but the architecture and craftsmanship on display here are anything but basic’’, the awards write-up states.
Lakes Building Co’s other owner, Mark Ladbrook, adds: ‘‘I think the judges were pretty impressed with the guys’ attention to detail and craftsmanship.
‘‘The main challenge is there’s a lot of detail in it, although the plans we had were probably the best we’ve ever worked with.’’
He’s referring to Arrowtown-based Assembly Architects’ Marcus Kirk, whose work also won the house two New Zealand Institute of Architects’ southern awards.
On cloud nine: Lakes Building Co owners Mark Ladbrook, left, and Stu Clark
Ladbrook: ‘‘It’s a team effort right down to the designer, the landscaper, the plumbers, sparkies, all the trades.’’
Clark says when the house was designed there was a Covid-induced gib shortage, ‘‘so it was all designed with ply and NZ product like Abodo wood cladding’’.
Lakes Building Co’s currently building a brew hall/events venue at Arthurs Point’s Gantley’s for owner Rod Drury.
