Beacon

In the beginning

The Waitakere NOW Home® grew out of a Scion (formerly Forest Research) ‘Concept House’ project to design a single family home that would provide its occupants quality of life into the future, and perform well over the whole life of the building. It was to be:

“The environmentally friendly home that people want – and can afford – to live in”

When the researchers decided an actual home was needed to measure the performance of the sustainability features and the wellbeing of its occupants in ‘real-life’ conditions, the Waitakere NOW Home® project was born.

A collaborative effort

The design of the house was very much a collaborative effort.  A team of contributors from Waitakere City Council, Scion, BRANZ and Winstone Wallboards worked together on what exactly a sustainable home would look like and how it would be expected to perform.

Once Beacon Pathway Ltd was formed in 2004 with Waitakere City Council, Building Research and Scion as shareholders, we took over the project.   

Waitakere City Council provided the land for the house in Olympic Park with the idea that the NOW Home® would become part of its environmental education cluster with the Eco-Matters Environment Trust and Sustainable Building Centre.

Building the house

The home was designed by Greg Burn based on the criteria developed by the collaborative team.  It was constructed by GJ Gardner Ltd. 

Once design decisions were made, some of the specified materials and products were donated by building material manufacturers and suppliers. 

In August 2005 the Waitakere NOW Home® was opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark, and a month later, with a young family moved in, monitoring commenced.

Photo: Craig Robertson Photography