The DESIGNFIRE Brochure

SPECIALIST DESIGN ARCHITECTS WITH EXPERTISE IN FIRE ENGINEERING AND PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION

HELLO. WE ARE THE DESIGNFIRE. HIGH RES IMAGE REQUIRED

We are a team of experienced professionals with a passion for architecture and a strong focus on new home development.

At THE DESIGNFIRE, we have some of the most experienced architects and fire consultants in Auckland. Employing the latest advances in residential building design, we create concepts and plans that will meet your needs and lifestyle while fully complying with all council codes and regulations.

When you work with our highly trusted industry experts, you’ll enjoy a single point of contact for your high-quality development projects, extensions, recladding, and office and retail fit-outs.

Our integrated approach merges art and science, current standards, and best practices to ensure you’ll always receive unparalleled advice and service.

To safeguard you, we carry professional indemnity and general liability insurance for all our architectural and fire engineering services.

Based on our reputation for consistently delivering quality projects on time and within budget, THE DESIGNFIRE is highly regarded in the design and engineering industry.

Founded in 2010 as the CASA Consulting Group, THE DESIGNFIRE is an Auckland-based specialist architecture and fire consultancy firm with expertise in fire engineering and passive fire protection. In 2020, to celebrate its 10th anniversary and highlight its nationwide project management and delivery capability, the CASA Consulting Group became THE DESIGNFIRE.

What we do

Design Radiance Centre, Commercial development

This architecturally designed food and beverage centre with 17 units is one of the latest additions to the largest food and beverage precinct in Albany, located in the heart of the rapidly-growing Orchard Park business park. We used dynamic architectural solutions to represent the spirit of modern architecture. Features include easy access, outdoor seating, a common balcony, and parking options to ensure all units can be consented for commercial and food and beverage use.

Our design team spotted an opportunity to cut the high point of the site in order to create an underground car park, which balances the GFA and other car park spaces.

We also contributed to the design solutions for external stair locations, the walking path, and the development of the colour scheme.

Multi-Unit Residential

This project aimed to subdivide a large section in peaceful suburban Bucklands Beach and construct three high-quality freestanding dwellings.

Each house is cleverly designed with five balconied bedrooms and a private courtyard providing useful outdoor space to each resident.

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The interiors and exteriors of the homes reflect modern living philosophy with clean design. To keep the construction cost modest, the design maximised layout efficiency yet still contained attractive modern features like corner louvres and feature painted bricks.

Re-cladding and extension

This 1990s home was built with direct-fix plaster cladding and a rounded parapet. Although such features were once a design statement, after more than 20 years, the house was leaking badly.

In addition to the necessary recladding, the client approached us to see if the house’s frontage could be modernised and a better view achieved from the top floor master bedroom.

To meet the brief, we carefully set the height of the roof to ensure that the house achieved a high-quality modern look as well as being functional. Our careful and innovative design optimised the ceiling height to create an open loft feel but also provided lower-sill windows for the master bedroom so the client could enjoy the view.

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House Re-cladding

Our fully-considered design response to this old, tired, and badly leaking home brought it back to life with a sophisticated, modern look.

We enjoy working closely with other consultants, which is essential, as is the ability to balance all the related aspects on a site.

Along with the excellent construction input from the building contractor, our client has been very pleased with the outcome.

Single-Unit Residential MASTERTON ROAD, ROTHESAY BAY THE DESIGNFIRE is a team of experienced professionals with a passion for architecture and a strong focus on new home development. We have some of the most experienced architects and fire engineers in Auckland. Employing the latest advances in residential building design, we create concepts and plans that will meet your needs and lifestyle while fully complying with all council codes and regulations.

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Our extensive portfolio includes free-standing homes, townhouses, and apartment developments, employing a wide range of building styles and materials. We love to help people build their dream homes. You can trust our knowledgable and experienced team to complete your building project without hassles, on time, and on budget.

We have a proud history of successful new home projects and the portfolio to prove it.

Interior Design Specialists

At THE DESIGNFIRE, we pride ourselves on delivering exceptional interior design solutions. We have an in-house team of experienced, qualified interior designers who achieve very high standards of quality and workmanship. From our offices in Auckland, we provide personalised client care with a strong focus on developing long-term relationships.

A dedicated and passionate project team will work with you from start to finish - from putting your initial ideas on paper right through to completing your interior design project. No idea or project is too big or too small, and we will deliver seamlessly.

What we do

Fire FIRE ENGINEERING

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Panama Road PANAMA ROAD, MOUNT WELLINGTON

Passive fire design has become an increasingly important part of building compliance since the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Intensive residential housing requires special attention due to its dense development typology, light frame structure, and a high number of sleeping occupants.

Our technical director Ryan handled the passive fire design aspect of this project. He stays fully abreast of the test data on fire-stopping products to gain an in-depth understanding of their limits and applications.

PASSIVE FIRE DESIGN

What is passive fire design?

Passive fire design incorporates fire-resistant building elements and smart spatial design techniques to limit the spread of fire and smoke. Passive fire protection systems offer added safety to residents, reducing the risk of fires and minimising a fire’s ability to spread once it starts, allowing for safer and longer evacuation times. Passive fire protection saves lives and can be achieved without sacrificing aesthetic design quality.

NMIT School Building.

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UPPER QUEEN STREET, EDEN TERRACE

For this exciting project, we provided a full fire engineering design service. This included: • Reviewing the existing structure • An initial fire engineering briefing • Preparation of a project fire report • Passive fire design • Emergency lighting design Due to the urgent nature of the project, we negotiated with the council to have our fire design peer-reviewed, and managed a high-risk, fasttrack process.

We proposed a significant change in the structural design to give the building a clean, stylish and contemporary look. We also thoroughly reviewed the façade for fire design compliance.

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New terraced house development AKORANGA DRIVE, NORTHCOTE

We provided a construction fire report and passive fire design for this project, based on the approved design.

Recently, fire engineering and passive fire design have become major considerations in such developments. It’s important to engage with key stakeholders early in the project to agree on financial and buildability implications.

In this case, because of the need to maximise floor area while still allowing maneuvering room for car parking, the design had some overhanging floors on the boundary. Because we were involved in the initial stages of the project, we were able to provide early fire engineering advice that was incorporated into the documentation process, helping the project to progress smoothly.

EMERGENCY LIGHTING

Emergency lighting is required in many commercial buildings as part of the overall fire safety features. It ensures egress routes within the building are visible in the event of a fire.

To complement our expertise in fire consulting and passive fire design, we work closely with a certified emergency lighting engineer.

Retail Block developments JOHN GLENN AVENUE, ALBANY

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This building has a simple modern form with a mono-pitch roof following the contour of the site, respecting the surroundings and, at the same time, providing highly presentable road frontage.

To devise the fire design for this project, we got involved early and discussed fire engineering principles with various stakeholders, our client, the real estate agent, and other consultants and developers.

The issues of post-fire stability, means of egress provision, and external fire spread were carefully considered at the concept stage. Due to our combined fire engineering expertise, sound fire design principles were incorporated into the building design in full scale to efficiently meet regulations.

We also provided full passive fire design specification and emergency lighting design.

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Managing Director & Technical Director 37 DEVON ROAD, BUCKLAND BEACH

Louie Kang

Ryan Shin

Managing Director | BArch ANZIA MBOINZ Fire Consultant, Registered Architect

Technical Director | BArch ANZIA Registered Architect, Passive Fire Designer

Louie founded CASA Consulting Group in 2010 and rebranded it to THE DESIGNFIRE in 2020. In his role as managing director, Louie has worked in the New Zealand construction industry since 2002 as a lead project architect, contract manager, building/fire compliance officer, and fire consultant. Louie holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and Architectural Studies from the University of Auckland. He is a registered architect and a member of the NZIA (New Zealand Institute of Architects) and FPANZ (Fire Protection Association New Zealand). Louie began reviewing and writing fire reports in 2010 and is now a specialist in this area.

Ryan is THE DESIGNFIRE’s technical lead architect and passive fire designer, with over 15 years of experience in the New Zealand construction industry. Ryan has strong relationships with many public and private sector clients, having worked on multiple master planning and architectural projects for their facilities. Acting as a mentor, Ryan incorporates specific passive fire design systems for various commercial and development projects, thereby supporting other consultants and our clients.

Ryan obtained his bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Auckland. A registered architect, Ryan is also a member of the NZIA (New Zealand Institute of Architects).

What our clients say about us Harland Murray Statesman projects “I am Harland Murray from Statesman Projects.

We are the main contractor for Wang Trading.

Working alongside THE DESIGNFIRE was easy; it couldn’t have been better. They handled the council work, provided faster responses to minor variations, and the team on-site found the plans easy to read.

We did have challenges with the change of specifications for a couple of products. Throughout the job, we had to hold up, waiting for the consents for the minor changes. THE DESIGNFIRE handled all of this work, and we found it easy.

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THE DESIGNFIRE handled the architectural and passive fire, which made it easy for us. We had a few challenges on-site with passive fire, and because we were dealing with one team, they were resolved quickly and efficiently.

We would definitely recommend THE DESIGNFIRE. We look forward to working with them again in the future. They are easy to work with, and we really enjoyed working with them.”

Farzbod Taefi Director of Skills Update Training Institute “About 5 years ago, in conjunction with NMIT, we purchased a site on 42 Upper Queen Street.

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This building needed a lot of renovation and a make-over, so we handed the design to a number of architectural firms, and the most attractive design came from THE DESIGNFIRE. We found them very flexible and receptive to our comments and ideas. I think it was the winning card for us as the client. Getting the permits through the council is not an easy task. They had good contacts in the council, they were well known to the council, and that really speeded up the process. I think if we’ve chosen another group of architects, this project may have taken twice as long. We have recommended THE DESIGNFIRE to many people and referred them to Louie. You know the sample of his work is here, and people can see what they can get.”

Happy Turtle Childcare Centre “THE DESIGNFIRE has taken care of the whole project for the Happy Turtle Childcare Centre, with a detail-oriented approach.

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There was no confusion during the process. Everything was very clear and set out according to the requirements of the fire compliance of the building. Our fire report was in details, like how to get out of the building when it’s on fire, and a visual assembly point.

We had one concern from CCC - that our bridge (which was done by the landscape people) was quite small. THE DESIGNFIRE contacted them and helped us solve our problem, and in our next CCC visit, we passed.

When the parents visit our centre, we talk about our fire curtain. This is our additional feature for if there’s a fire or anything in the kitchen. They are quite happy with their children’s safety and everything.

We would like to use THE DESIGNFIRE in our next projects, also would like to recommend them to our friends and others.”

Our clients 37 DEVON ROAD, BUCKLAND BEACH

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We are proud members of 37 DEVON ROAD, BUCKLAND BEACH

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Contact us Do you need help with your residential or commercial construction project?

No matter the size or requirements, THE DESIGNFIRE always delivers excellent design and engineering services.

BUSINESS GENERAL ENQUIRIES admin@thedesignfire.co.nz 0800 030 802 FIRE ENGINEERING Get in touch with Louie +64 22 062 6815 ARCHITECTURAL Get in touch with Ryan +64 21 779 216

WINNER OF THE SILVER AWARD 2021 WANG FOOD MARKET

The annual New Zealand Commercial Project Awards celebrate collaboration and innovation in the building industry.

These awards recognise the contribution of the entirety of the project teams, making sure there is an all-around appreciation for those who brought amazing projects to life.

The Wang Supermarket has open, high ceilings with ample cross ventilation, providing an energy-efficient structure.

Louvres and low-level glazing with a cover provide good solar protection to reduce energy costs. The building is designed to minimise the cut and waste of cladding and materials, while varied elevation design elements make the building visually interesting and reflect the company’s branding. Potential maintenance issues were considered when selecting materials, such as feature Patten concrete and steel cladding, which were mostly locally sourced.

AWARDED FOR: DESIGN ARCHITECTURE FIRE DESIGN RESOURCE CONSENT BUILDING CONSENT

Careful designer and consultant coordination was required for the floors and site work to ensure the floor supported necessary loading such as racking. The design team and the contractor were constantly communicating to ensure the construction process ran smoothly.

The client was extremely satisfied with the design, and the supermarket has brought new life into the surrounding business district.

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34A Constellation Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632 phone: +64 9 280 3095

BUSINESS General enquiries 0800 030 802

FIRE ENGINEERING Get in touch with Louie +64 22 062 6815

ARCHITECTURAL ENQUIRY Get in touch with Ryan +64 21 779 216