WEL Architecture

WEL Architecture Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from WEL Architecture, Architectural Designer, 274 tahekeroa Road, Auckland.

An Architectural practice that provides a range of services, under the pillars of Design, Consult, Teach - Architecture that balances budget, beauty and build-ability, alongside health, performance and efficiency.

A fantastic day heading down to our project - The Copse, aiming for certification, and now aiming to be too (due t...
15/05/2026

A fantastic day heading down to our project - The Copse, aiming for certification, and now aiming to be too (due to extortionate reconnection fees from the local power company!) The flight down and back was perfect thanks to , with sensational views throughout!

The purpose of the visit was the pre-line inspection and blower door airtightness test, before the interior linings go on. Before Christmas we did an envelope only test to test the Formance SIPs and Starke joinery with an amazing result of 0.24ach n50. Since then have done a great job of adjusting and finessing the joinery, but also all of the services penetrations have been made, so there were more holes than before...

The tension was high, but after an initial pressurise to find any holes the result came in........ an incredible 0.16ach n50, and some extremely happy builders!! Tom, Pete and the team have absolutely smashed this out of the park, and their attention to detail and focus on quality can be seen throughout.

The services fitout is going well with the ducted heat pump system almost complete, and the Stiebel Eltron New Zealand ventilation well on the way. Rigid ducting for the heating & cooling provides less noise & more longevity than the usual flexi-duct, with 3D coordination in the design phase mitigating on-site working out to coordinate these with the semi-rigid ventilation ducts come. The project is a perfect example of collaboration, coordination and careful design, with a passionate team all working together to get the outcome the client is hoping for 🙌

SIPs floor, wall and roof
screw pile foundations
engineering
joinery
ventilation
wraps and tapes

On a recent trip to the UK, Director was invited back to .school.of.art where he undertook his training, to add some Ne...
29/04/2026

On a recent trip to the UK, Director was invited back to .school.of.art where he undertook his training, to add some New Zealand & Passivhaus insights to second year crits.

The studio 2.5 project explored the addition of community housing & facilities to an existing council site, with consideration and retention of the biodiversity & microclimates currently present on the plot.

The students had produced some lovely responses working with the existing fabric on site, creating new spaces within existing, and all utilising low carbon & natural building methodologies. Wood fibre board, exposed hempcrete & timber frame, geometric forms & and tactile approaches to finishes outside & in. It was interesting to hear how construction is developing in the UK, and great to see such planet conscious design from the group!

Many thanks to Justine Langford for the invitation, and looking forward to seeing the completed work!

On the drawing board – a new home in a growing subdivision outside Hamilton, with an aspirational local developer.The br...
14/03/2026

On the drawing board – a new home in a growing subdivision outside Hamilton, with an aspirational local developer.

The brief was for a spacious, modern home utilising NZSIPs, with the primary aim of achieving Passivhaus certification & Homestar rating at reasonable construction costs. A detailed subdivision design guide was adhered to, while also balancing performance, cost, complexity, and the spatial and aesthetic requirements of the client.

The design response was refined through a collaborative process with the client, resulting in a proposal that ticked all the boxes, and more. The timber clad porch opens to an entry & reception room. Two bedrooms and a family bathroom sit to one side, with an accessible third bedroom and shower room for aging family to the other. To the rear an open plan living, kitchen and dining area opens out to a north facing, shaded living space. Meanwhile a scullery, laundry & drying cupboard, and a separate WC complete the plan.

A bright staircase leads up to a vaulted study space beneath the steep SIPs roof. At the rear is the primary bedroom, walk in wardrobe, ensuite and reading gallery in a pop-out dormer. The extensive living spaces are carefully designed within a 220m2 floor area over the two stories, with a double garage to the front.

The SIPs work with UPVC joinery, a balanced MVHR and a fully insulated Maxraft slab, with modelling throughout the process ensuring Passivhaus performance was achieved with minimal refinements. Externally, robust fibrecement cladding, rendered panels and metal roofing, are finished with a subtle colour palette that elevates the simple, geometric forms.

The design sailed through the subdivision design review with no changes. The panel stating “We are supportive of a passive house being proposed and are very happy with the overall look and ethos behind the home”. The project now moves into detailed design, when construction details and specifications are refined and finalised in 2D and 3D. This process ensures that the design is fully resolved and documented for Building Consent, but also that all decisions have been made prior to starting on site to aid a speedy, simple construction process.

Our feet are just about touching the ground after a bit of a whirlwind trip down to Coromandel to see 'The Copse', our p...
13/02/2026

Our feet are just about touching the ground after a bit of a whirlwind trip down to Coromandel to see 'The Copse', our project aiming for Passivhaus Premium.

Some last minute transport issues (if they say the plane has mechanical problems, you listen!) meant a late night drive down to Pauanui on Wednesday. Massive thanks to Steven of for putting us up at the last minute.

The next morning we undertook the pre-line airtightness blower door test. As well as looking to achieve a certain result for the Passivhaus certification, this is an excellent test of workmanship, but the team had nothing to worry about. Despite this being their first full SIPs project, and their first one aiming for Passivhaus, it was obvious from the second we walked in that they'd gone above & beyond.

The bets were written on the whiteboard, then as the door cycled through the test points, it quickly for down to the 'E' ring with the smallest hole, meaning the house was seriously airtight. A walk round with the smoke machine showed the only real leaks were through some of the joinery locking mechanisms, but that should be easily solved by with some grommets.

The numbers came in, and the final result was a sensational 0.24ach!! Passivhaus requires under 0.6ach, most new builds are around 5-7ach, so this was seriously good. It really goes to show how clear documentation, good coordination, and passionate builders can achieve together.

As soon as the test was completed we began the Formance mid-build open day. We were so busy chatting we didn't get chance to take any pics (thanks William Hubbard for the mugshot!) but despite it being a Thursday lunchtime a good number of people turned up to see the project. Designers, homeowners, even some Auckland Council inspectors turned up for a look see!

The day finished 4 hour trip back to reflect on the event thanks to the Auckland traffic...! Massive thanks to everyone involved - the client, the PJ Builders team and Formance for putting the event on, and to everyone who came along. Now to push on to the finish line!

A great site visit to our project in Cambridge with The project is using ‘standard’ construction, with a few minor tweak...
21/01/2026

A great site visit to our project in Cambridge with

The project is using ‘standard’ construction, with a few minor tweaks, to achieve the aims of Passivhaus and Homestar 10* performance requirements, alongside the lowest possible carbon footprint. The aim is to show that achieving better performance doesn’t have to mean significant change or cost.

With the ground floor wall frames up, some of these tweaks to increase performance and ease buildability can be seen:

- Driven piles and timber floor for the house instead of a concrete slab – easier thermal performance and less upfront carbon.

- Starter strips installed between bearers and joists, to aid a ‘wind washing’ layer of wrap to be installed under the floor. Air moving over insulation reduces its effectiveness. This layer will protect the insulation, enabling it to maintain a higher R value.

- The joinery has been designed to use the midfloor boundary joists as the lintels, minimising the need for large additional lintels, leaving more room for insulation.

- No nogs/ dwangs! A plywood skin and structural cavity battens mean this project is nog free - less timber, less cost, and more insulation in the same wall thickness.

- No other unnecessary timber. Standard frame & truss techniques massively over specify timber; we’ve seen this numerous times when reviewing shop drawings from framing suppliers who use standard software. On this project the contractor fabricated the frames themselves based off a cut list. The floor plan and joinery layout was based on stud spacings to avoid the need for additional studs. Each wall frame is fabricated in single pieces to avoid the double timbers at panel joins when they come off a truck. 2 stud corners are used to avoid build up of timber at the corners, and to allow insulation to get into them.

None of this is difficult, it just needs a bit more attention and thought during the design & detailing phase, and front loading more decisions. This then saves money in construction, reduces energy use and running cost for the life of the building; and ensures higher comfort and health for the occupants. Win win!

Happy New Year all! We're not quite back at our desks yet, but this news was too good to wait to share!Our Havelock Lodg...
07/01/2026

Happy New Year all! We're not quite back at our desks yet, but this news was too good to wait to share!

Our Havelock Lodge project with has achieved Passivhaus Pre Construction Certification - a fantastic milestone to reach. This means that as long as the building is built to match the drawings, as evidenced by site observations, the ventilation system is properly commissioned, and the airtightness target is achieved; this will be a fully certified Passivhaus. Massive thanks as always to and Jessica Winter for getting this finalised!

This process is one of the reasons Passivhaus works so well. The certification requires you to assess the performance of the design throughout the whole design process, to ensure it will meet the requirements. This means you know how the building will perform before it is even built, and the whole design and construction team knows what targets they're aiming for.

This is significantly better than standard construction, where there is no requirement under the Building Code to ensure the building will actually be comfortable, or actually perform for the people that will live in it, meaning every client is essentially a crash test dummy...

If you'd like a home that will actually be comfortable, and actually be affordable to heat and cool - get in touch.
















A final concept to finish the year!This new home sits on a large site in Beachlands, surrounded by mature trees, and onl...
22/12/2025

A final concept to finish the year!

This new home sits on a large site in Beachlands, surrounded by mature trees, and only a few minutes walk from the beach. The brief was for a comfortable, energy efficient home that will be used as a show home for the client's construction company, using SIPs for the envelope.

The gabled form sits to the south of the long site. To the front a large garage provides space for cars, & water toys, essential so close to the beach! An internal door leads through a storage room, a laundry and drying room, and a scullery, before arriving into the kitchen and living space at the rear. A flat roof wraps around the form creating a covered living area to the rear, while also tying the building to the guest accommodation & entry space between the two, & providing shade to the northern joinery.

As you arrive stepping stones lead past a perforated brick screen to the entrance, where you can continue through to the exterior living beyond, access the 2 bedroom guest wing to the north, or enter the foyer of the main house. A glazed gallery overlooks a planted courtyard, with a study/ flexi room and a coats space & WC off to the side, before leading into the full height gabled kitchen, dining and living space. Externally a louvre roof protects the northern dining area, with a BBQ &seating space to the rear.

Stairs lead from the main foyer to the gabled first floor, with north facing dormers accommodating 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a flexi room & a second living space overlooking the living area below. Storage is provided throughout, alongside moments for rest & reflection - a window seat, a top lit seating space, a view through or over. Externally a low maintenance palette of aged brick, grey metal and silvered timber allow the home to sit quietly in the relaxed, beachside surroundings.

The brief was for comfort and performance, & the design achieved Passivhaus performance on the first pass of modelling. The WEL process requires projects to be costed at the end of the concept phase, so the project will now go through initial pricing, to ensure the budget is on the right track before we move into the detailed design process.

A final pre-Christmas site inspection at our project on The Coromandel, The Copse - aiming for Passivhaus Premium certif...
22/12/2025

A final pre-Christmas site inspection at our project on The Coromandel, The Copse - aiming for Passivhaus Premium certification.

The SIPs have been wrapped in adhero wrap, a sticky-backed weather resistive barrier that will protect the building fabric, and can be left exposed over the break (up to 180 days!).

On the roof the team have installed the counter battens, over which the roof purlins are installed. These create a drainage and ventilation plain which will be vented at the top & the bottom, to allow any moisture that gets in to escape, while also providing airflow to allow the roof cavity to dry.

Internally the spaces are really taking shape now the roof is on! The expansive living space & northern bedroom are beautifully shaded by the surrounding trees, with the roof overhang allowing early morning sun to bathe the floor in summer, but keep out the heat of the day.

"What are we going to do about Christmas cards this year?""Well, we are quite busy…sooo let’s spend a weekend hand makin...
15/12/2025

"What are we going to do about Christmas cards this year?"
"Well, we are quite busy…sooo let’s spend a weekend hand making cards for our clients, how many do we need?!"

In our work we aim to make each decision purposeful. We extend this beyond just our projects, and wanted to reflect this in our Christmas cards this year. 

A weekend of crafting with the kids turned into creative fun. We tested stencils and prints, made a stamp from a waste piece of wood and an old pasta box, fished out some water colour paper from the craft boxes, and cracked on!

Each card went through the same process, but is individual in its resolution. Different combinations and applications of colour. Different textures and finishes from each print of the stamp. Repetition of an idea still led to a different character and outcome for each - perfect imperfection! 

It struck us after that this can be applied to our work too. Each project aims for similar outcomes of healthy, beautiful, low energy homes; but each still has individual expression and character. Repetition doesn’t need to be boring, or the same.

These are winging their way to our clients and partners. As the list grew it was amazing to realise how many people we have collaborated with this year - it’s been an utter pleasure working with all of you, and we could only make so many cards!

We’re signing off from 19th December till 12th January, for a much needed break. We hope everyone has a healthy and relaxing Christmas, and can’t wait to see where 2026 takes us.

Some fantastic Friday pictures from , of our Havelock Lodge project overlooking the Marlborough Sounds - the Extasana a...
28/11/2025

Some fantastic Friday pictures from , of our Havelock Lodge project overlooking the Marlborough Sounds - the Extasana and Mento building wraps have been installed over the SIPs, and the views out to the Sounds are really coming to life!

We feel so lucky to have projects on site all around Aotearoa - from Blenheim to Beachlands, Cambridge to Christchurch! To ensure the success of each project, while mitigating inspection time and costs, in-person site inspections at key points are backed up by daily or weekly photo updates from site. This enables us to have oversight of every project, wherever it is around the country.

Alongside this, strong relationships are key to delivering a successful project, and working with talented and trusted partners like helps ensure the project will achieve the required outcomes for the clients.

With Havelock Lodge the wrap is on to protect the envelope, and the Koffman joinery will be arriving in the coming weeks. Keep an eye out following the Christmas break for some mid-build open days, to see this fantastic project in person!

Address

274 Tahekeroa Road
Auckland

Telephone

+64210394054

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