Amuri Building Specialists Ltd was born from one man’s love of the Hanmer Basin and a passion for well-crafted buildings of distinction.
Dan McGuire’s strong connection with the area was forged when working for a national award winning builder and sent to Hanmer to complete a building contract. That was 13 years ago and Dan has never left. “Sometimes,” he says, “you just have to smell the roses.”
Establishing Amuri Building Specialists, Dan and his team of craftsmen have completed many highend architectural homes throughout the Amuri area along with some of Hanmer’s most notable commercial buildings. “We built the Village Lake Apartments in the centre of Hanmer Springs.
“That was followed by the St James Hanmer Springs luxury accommodation, recently named New Zealand’s Best Motel at the New Zealand Hospitality Awards 2018. “The new shopping precinct in Hanmer called The Village was one of our projects, along with the shopping complex around the corner called Boulder Point.”
Passionate about building, Dan says it’s all about the end product, working with clients and making them happy at the end of the day.
Treating clients with respect, walking them through the whole building process and making what can be a stressful time for the client as painless as possible is all part of the key to success for Dan.
“I think a lot of that comes down to transparency. “Building can be a stressful time – and there’s no need for it if you walk people through it and give them your time.”
Undertaking ‘clever builds’ and taking the time to get the detail and ‘old fashioned’ craftsmanship right is another of Amuri Building Specialists’ strengths and the reason why Dan and his team were selected to build a circular home known as The Tree House.
Designed by Rangiora-based architect Sally Turnbull and nestled in alpine forest in Hanmer Springs, with its exterior board and batten exterior constructed from locally sourced and milled Redwood trees, the home is a striking addition to the landscape.
Standing 3 metres off the ground the flooring joists of the 120sqm home radiate out from a 200mm diametre steel central post that rises 7.5 metres. “All the blocking and joists ended up being like a spider web pattern,” says Dan.
Dan and his team of craftsmen have completed a wide variety of projects throughout the Amuri area – from residential to commercial.
“Each piece in that web ended up being cut a different length. The roof was the same design, so each of those pieces had to be cut specifically to length—just the man-hours involved in doing that—there were hundred of hours involved. “There was no way of rushing it because otherwise nothing would have fitted.”
Radiating out from the centre post in the same spider web pattern as the subfloor, the macrocapa tongue and groove flooring was equally complex to construct. “Everyone enjoyed the carpentry skills that were required to build the home.
“It was all old school building – right up my alley. It would have been the most complex build that we’ve done – but it was a pleasure to do at the same time.”
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Hanna Painting & Decorating
- Architectural Draughting & Design Ltd
- Sola Nelson
- Hard as Rocks Ltd
- PlaceMakers
