Our Partners and Projects
Successful homes and buildings are a team effort, here are some buildings that we were lucky to be a part of
"Michael is passionate about energy efficient design and better building, happy to think outside the box and look at alternative solutions to create a better end product for our clients."
——Julia Mercer
Director of Elbow Architects | Registered Architect | LEED Accredited
The focus in this housing project in Christchurch was on overheating. Especially multi storey buildings in NZ often overheat quite badly, some reaching 50 degrees Celsius in their bedrooms. By analysing each room, we managed to steer recommendations to lower the chance of overheating in the upstairs bedrooms.
“We have enjoyed working alongside Michael from Circular Project on a few projects now. It is great to know with his help we are ensuring our projects are designed to have striking architectural presence whilst also maintaining a high level of energy efficiency.”
——Michael Todd
Director of Define Architecture
The focus in this family home was to keep the stunning views in place while ensuring thermal comfort. Carefully evaluating insulation levels, glass types, heating type, roof overhangs and fresh air supply were all part of the end package- a great family home.
This architectural home is located in the colder regions with limited solar gain in winter. Therefore, good orientation, the right amount of insulation, and well sized roof overhangs ensure heat gain in winter and keeping too much heat out in summer.
This home is a great example of what can be done with a combination of design, dynamic modelling, materials, and heating. Occupied and monitored now for a year, the combined heating and cooling costs are hard to beat and match many certified passive homes but with only a fraction of the insulation required for that certification in that area. This home in Christchurch can be viewed by appointment.
“Michael’s energy modelling played a key role in delivering an exceptionally comfortable and energy-efficient home for our clients”
——Massimiliano (Max) Capocaccia
Director of Mc Architecture Studio | Registered Architect
“We worked with Michael on a small coastal bach where roof overhangs were carefully designed to shade the home from the harsh summer sun. His practical approach to passive design brought simple, effective comfort to the space.”
——Wulf Borrmeister
Director of Borrmeister Architecture | Registered Architect
“For a large, light-filled home, Michael helped us achieve a balanced environment through the use of vented skylights, external sliding sun screens, and integrated landscaping. His expertise ensured the home maintained both comfort and energy efficiency.”
——Wulf Borrmeister
Director of Borrmeister Architecture | Registered Architect
“Michael was brilliant to work with. He doesn’t push expensive heating or cooling systems instead, he takes a holistic approach, takes the time to understand how you live, and genuinely works with you. Engaging Michael early on was one of the best decisions we made.
On a hill site with expansive views, it’s always tempting to capture everything. I consulted Michael in the early stages of design, and he helped carefully balance the placement and size of windows so the views were maximised without compromising comfort.
I can not rave about Michael enough and what he did for the comfort of our home. ”
——Alice Dwyer
Director of ATC Projects | BAS Architectural Designer
“A real pleasure to work with Michael on our strawbale house. Our only regret was that we didn’t engage him earlier in the project”.
——Mary Fulton, A client
This wonderful character home in Otago was a deep renovation- where a significant part of the current walls were insulated, windows changed and an addition built. The focus was on reducing the heating demand to keep the family comfortable.
The Youth Hub in Christchurch had several parts to focus on: Low heating and cooling costs and natural daylight while avoiding glare. To reduce cooling and glare, we assisted in sizing external windows and looked at internal windows for the windowless offices to capture light from the atrium.
"We engaged Michael to help us optimise our 5-unit townhouse development. There is a significant problem with overheating in poorly designed new builds, so our main aim was reducing overheating risks and improving thermal efficiency. We found real value in modelling early on in the design phase and believe we have found a great balance between cost and thermal performance for our discerning customers."
——Nick Jones
Director of Niche Living
In this as in many large commercial projects, we assist in helping put insulation to where it makes the most sense- for performance and financial. We have had projects where we managed to save thousands of Dollars off the construction costs.
* All images above are the property of Circular Project or our partners and are protected by copyright. *
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