Solarei Architecture

About

Solarei Architecture was born out of a passion to deliver well designed, creatively focused, collaboratively based, budget conscious, environmentally responsive house designs to our clients.

What we design combines client aspirations with a creative environmental response, using clever design strategies to achieve this. Our objective is to creatively design homes which are based on environmental sustainable design principles, and the human experience.

Environmental sustainable design principles take into consideration a meaningful engagement with environment and climate. Design principles we use are based on smart orientation, passive solar, passive design strategies, natural warmth, passive cooling, cross ventilation, and stack effect. High performance building materials, energy efficiency, smart green technologies, and healthy building materials are some of the ingredients we use to achieve this.

By using this design approach, we are able to design a house which is naturally warm in winter, naturally cool in summer, gets the most of unique site features, and is always enjoyable to live in.

Fostering engaging relationships with clients, based on listening, honesty, and mutual exchanging of ideas has resulted in many successful award-winning projects, with national (NZ) and international recognition of our work.

Currently we are working on projects in Australia, New Zealand, and Thailand. Please get in touch if our work interests you.

TEAM

Testimonials

"We chose to work with Duncan at Solarei, after considering other options as he was the only one who had a focus on building an environmental passively designed house within our budget.

He had a sensible design approach, had allot of patience, as we had lots of questions, ideas, and revisions.

Our site had a tight building platform and he managed to squeeze allot of house onto the site without compromising the overall passive solar design, passive design strategies, or overall architectural design.
He responded promptly to our emails and was fun to work with. As our house is under construction currently, I can see how important the work at the design stage is.

I would recommend him to those who are looking at an environmental passively designed, eco-friendly home”.

Robert Wilks and Sally Murdoch, Tasman, New Zealand

“Our dream was to build a small sustainable house. After an extensive research we chose Duncan from Solarei for his experience in environmental designs based on the principles of passive solar and passive ventilation. We had a challenging steep site and like many definitely no unlimited budget. The whole process was pretty much a co-design were Duncan proposed a design and ideas based on our wish and requirements list and building products we wanted to use. In several rounds we made iterations on the plans until we were completely satisfied with the design. Now living in our home has been a joy. Warm and comfortable in winter with the winter sun warming up the house and in summer having all the cross ventilation to cool the house. Super low electricity bills and the lay-out of our home works really well. The design and build process went smooth without any stress and super happy with the end result”.

Francis Stevens and Margriet Geesink , Pahi, Kaipara Harbour, Northland, New Zealand

“We were attracted to Solarei by the technical detail and innovative ideas embodied in their passive solar designs. Duncan was very responsive to our ideas and enthusiastic about the challenge and opportunity of our southwest looking view of the outer Manukau. The house evolved with interaction between us living in San Diego, Duncan in Bangkok, and Craft Homes in Auckland. Controling costs was difficult, and changes in costs as the project progressed was the most stressful part of the project. The best part was the sheer pleasure of working with Duncan at a very detailed level to integrate his design into what we were trying to achieve. We really appreciated his willingness to frequently make modifications and be clear about what would be involved with various options. The interaction between Duncan of Solarei and the builder, Toby Tilsley of Craft Homes, was very professional and collaborative, even on the rare occasions when adjustments had to be made. Building a house is not for the faint-hearted, and Duncan was a wonderful guide who designed a sunny house that we love living in every single day”.

Sam McClatchie and Elena Turin, Huia, Manukau Harbour, New Zealand

'“Duncan Firth designed our dream retirement house for a difficult site and was able to include many of the green specifications that we wanted, despite a limited budget. He listened to what we said and always responded promptly to any communications. He came up with some innovative solutions to the problems of the steep narrow site and the result was an attractive, comfortable and warm house that we are proud of. Thank you Duncan”.

Derek and Christine Bettesworth, Whangarei, New Zealand

“The first time we met Duncan, we were living in what I would call a ‘chocolate box New Zealand villa’ – a lot of show but very little substance. At the time our electricity bills were sky high and it took a lot of effort to make it a healthy home. We now live in a stunning passive solar home, which is not only spectacular in form but also outstanding in function. I can’t even imagine ever wanting to live in another house. Our home really is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, with seriously below average electricity bills. From the beginning Duncan listened to our requirements and fully committed to the build. We have just hired Duncan to design our external hard landscaping around the home”.

Rory Bishop and Tina Coombes, Rodney, New Zealand

“We asked Duncan to help us with the renovation of our small dated home. Duncan was so great to work with. He listened to our needs and wants and, made this work for our budget. He managed to create a design where all aspects of style, practicality and environmental design were incorporated. We couldn’t be happier with the results. We now have a modern home we are proud of with great space for our kids and entertaining”.

Mike and Claire Sherwood, Whangarei, New Zealand

“We enjoyed working with Duncan from Solarei. He actually listened to what we wanted for our project and he came up with detailed plans that met our needs and reflected the coastal environment in which we live. He managed the project through the complex regulations of our local government body and obtained all necessary consents and approvals. If our future developments require any architectural input, they will be referred without hesitation to Solarei”.

Wade and Sue Rowsell, Kerikeri, New Zealand

“My wife and I contracted Duncan and Milti to design a passive solar energy efficient home after extensive research of many designs firms. Our brief was simple yet restrictive, to design a house using passive solar principles, natural ventilation strategies, eco-insulation, solar power, low energy products and green materials. The house had to maximise rural views and, indoor and outdoor living flow. To this end, Duncan and Milti fulfilled their part enormously with youthful enthusiasm and a sense of humour at all times. We’re happy we made the call we did. The project speaks for itself”.

Jim and Marcia Bowater, Waikato, New Zealand