New Zealand Herald - 26.11.18

Tauranga couple 'gobsmacked' with 2018 House of the Year win

Luke and Alex MacGibbon of 90 Degrees Construction won at this year's Registered Master Builders House of the Year Awards with their very first build. Photo / supplied

Luke and Alex MacGibbon were so stunned to win in this year's Registered Master Builders House of the Year Awards, they didn't even have a speech prepared.

The husband and wife team own 90 Degrees Construction , which won the New Home $550,000 - $700,000 category in the national competition. They join Todd Grey Builders Limited and Calley Homes Limited as Tauranga builders taking out some of the competition's biggest awards on Saturday night.

Tauranga company 90 Degrees Construction built this holiday home in Pauanui. Photo / supplied

Luke MacGibbon said they had hoped to eventually win a category in the annual awards as part of a five-year goal "but we've well exceeded that now, with the very first build that we've ever done".

The award-winning house in Pauanui, which has five plus bedrooms, one bathroom and one living room, was built by Luke MacGibbon and two apprentices while Alex MacGibbon took care of the project management side of things.

90 Degrees Construction built this holiday home in Pauanui. Photo / Supplied

"This was our very first event, so this has been huge for us," Alex MacGibbon said.

"We were absolutely gobsmacked when they read it out. We probably did all the wrong things. We just didn't expect it. We didn't even think about writing a speech. We were just so pleased to be there in the first place. So we are just proud as punch."

Alex MacGibbon said they believed they won because the project had the "perfect combination" of architect, builder and client.

"When you have that magic right, you know it's going to be amazing. It's quite rare and we've been fortunate to have that on our first build."

The couple said they were seated next to the teams from Todd Grey Builders and Calley Homes and there were hugs all around as each table were named winners.

Todd Grey said winning at the 2018 House of the Year Awards was a real honour. Photo / file

Todd Grey Builders won the "Carters New Home $1m-$2m" category for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, two-living room home in Mount Maunganui.

Todd Grey said the win was a huge honour, reflective of the whole team's efforts, "not just me but lots of workers, subcontractors and suppliers".

"I think there were something like 18 others in the category, so we were just lost for words," he said yesterday.

Todd Grey Builders built this home in Mount Maunganui. Photo / supplied

Calley Homes won the "Master Build 10-Year Guarantee Renovation up to $500,000" category for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, one-living room home in Tauranga South.

Johnny Calley of Calley homes said there was a lot of workmanship that went into their winning home, and it was "really satisfying that it got recognised that the judges saw the detail in it that we did".

Tauranga builder Johnny Calley was named winner at this year's House of the Year Awards. Photo / George Novak

Registered Master Builders chief executive David Kelly said the awards epitomised building excellence.

"Residential building continues to fuel the construction boom, and while these homes need to be built quickly and cost effectively, it must not be at the expense of quality. House of the Year sets the standard of what is possible, both in quality and innovation."