Corporate

From sustainable landscapes and materials lifecycle assessment to Living Building Challenge and Passive House design and modelling, our outlook on sustainability begins at the very start of the process and influences each subsequent design stage.

The advantage of working with an integrated design team with a strong sustainability practice is that we’re able to make decisions at all scales that benefit the final rating and lived experience of a place that’s economically sustainable.

It means less maintenance over time, streamlined cost efficiencies, and better value for our clients.

Our team has committed to the following:

We commit to a shift from ‘sustainability’ (the practice of ‘do no harm’ or ‘do less harm’) to ‘regeneration,’ wherein we actively aim to solve the climate crisis by creating places and environments that regenerate our world socially, economically, and ecologically.

We became signatories to the Architects’ Declare sustainability initiative in 2019. You can find out more about the initiative here.

Sustainability also means acting sustainably in our everyday lives — which means being sustainable in the way we work. You’ll see a focus on waste management, digitisation, and becoming paperless, along with a wide range of green initiatives and practices in our workplace.

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To ensure the utmost quality across all projects, we follow the Good Architectural Practice (GAP) quality assurance plan, established by the New Zealand Institute of Architects (NZIA). This QA process includes:

• Design review panels — incorporation of multidisciplinary experts to independently review design solutions based on unique client requirements.
• Technical review panels at 30%, 60%, and 90% project completion.
• Tracking of drawing programme and budget.
• NZ Building Code compliance assurance pathways.
• Safety in design (SiD) reporting.
• Project risk management and enterprise risk management.
• QAP construction.
• BIM strategy.

We use well-practiced proprietary and structured methods to deliver requirements for each stage of a project and to meet programme milestones. These methods are:

• Compliance assessment report: at pre-application meetings with Council, we present a proprietary compliance assessment report to illustrate how we will achieve Building Code compliance, earning buy-in on our strategy before compiling Building Consent documentation. This reduces potential delays for our clients.
• Safety in design report (SiD): we prepare a proprietary SiD report to assist our clients in managing their project responsibilities under the Health and Safety at Work Act (HSWA). These reports are updated throughout the life of the project and become a useful reference for ongoing management of the building asset.
• Controlled DCG & PCG meetings that track week-by-week deliverables.
• Controlled risk register and decisions log that’s tracked and monitored.
• Rigorous 30%, 60%, and 90% review process for monitoring progress against deliverables.
• Our project management system, Deltek PIM (Project Information Management), is specifically tailored to architects and engineers. It includes a resource planner we use to manage resource forecasting and align with our milestone and QA process. This capability allows us to measure our resource requirements directly against the programme, ensuring deliverables are achieved for each of the stages outlined.

We are committed to the observance of safe working practices and the good health of all employees, supported by our Health and Safety Committee. We want to ensure that the various workplaces we are involved in are as hazard‐free as possible within our own premises, as well as on sites that we may visit.

We have a company Health and Safety Policy that is issued to all staff and new staff members. This is updated on an ongoing basis in line with legislation.

Compulsory Training

Some training is required to meet legislative requirements. This training is recorded in terms of completion rates and includes:

• Site Safe
• St John’s first aid
• Aviation security (drone licensing)

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For media and PR enquiries, please contact us at hello@context.nz

We actively support the charity I Have a Dream (IHAD). Originally founded in the United States, IHAD is fundamentally about breaking inter-generational poverty and creating better futures for less-advantaged kids. Brought into New Zealand by tech entrepreneur Scott Gilmour, the IHAD programme launched here in 2003 with 53 eight-year-old children at Mt Roskill’s Wesley Primary School and has since expanded to focus its efforts in Northland communities.

IHAD relies on private donors and sponsorships that support its Navigators, who guide specific classes of kids for 15 years, from primary school until they leave high school and transition into employment or further education. This long-term commitment and vision — to provide young people with ongoing, wrap-around support that enables them to realise their full potential — lies at the heart of the organisation.

It currently partners with four Whangārei schools (three primary and one secondary) and more than 1,000 tamariki and rangatahi and has launched a new project in Upper Hutt this year.

If you’d like to make a donation to IHAD, click here. 

Kaupapa Māori at Context

Kaupapa Māori is an important part of Context’s emerging cultural capability. Over recent years, our practice has engaged in a range of culturally connected projects as part of our participation in both private and community-based sectors.

At the beginning of 2022, we advanced our cultural engagement strategy, hiring Leighton Watene to lead Tiaro, our Kaupapa Māori programme. 

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