Architectural design that strives to minimise the environmental impact and use energy efficient solutions.


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Architecta is an architectural design practice with the purpose of realising your vision.


At Architecta we believe that a good building is the result of a transparent, harmonious and enthusiastic relationship between designer, client and consultants.


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What you need to know if you are planning to build an energy efficient home.

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Featured Project — Hoon Hay Chalet

Commended at the
ADNZ Design Awards 2020 
Category Interior Design

"Susanne has done an excellent job at interpreting our ideas and requests to produce an incredibly smart, well thought through and stylish design for our home. The way she has optimised a small foot print and available sunlight is fantastic. We've been very impressed with her knowledge of thermal efficiency and passive house principles which has resulted in a design which we are confident will be very comfortable, enjoyable and cost effective home to live in. Throughout the design process we have found Susanne to be very easy to work with and have really appreciated the collaborative relationship that has been fostered with ourselves as clients and also with our builder. We can really tell that Susanne has taken great pride in our project and that can be clearly seen in the quality of the final product."

- Johnny Lineham 2017

Portfolio

About

Susanne Schade is a passionate advocator for sustainable design.


"As an architectural designer my work has a huge impact on our environment, and I strive to minimise the environmental impact of the buildings I design by recommending sustainable materials and energy efficient solutions to my clients."


Having over 20 years of experience as an architect in Europe and architectural designer in New Zealand, director Susanne formed Architecta to provide energy efficient and sustainable solutions within New Zealand.


We specialize in delivering architectural services for residential and commercial buildings, new builds, alterations and additions from the concept design right through to the project finish, while advising our clients about the newest technologies and construction methods. Our network includes all building related consultants that support us to achieve our goals.


With energy efficient housing becoming increasingly important within the building industry Architecta can offer solutions such as Passive House design creating a healthy, warm and dry interior environment, or Prefabrication minimizing the costs and duration of the building process.


At Architecta we are passionate about "Passive House Design".


A Passive House is defined as a building which can maintain indoor air temperature above the WHO recommended minimum of 18 degrees without any active heating or cooling systems. The house heats and cools itself, hence the term “passive “ Initially developed by the “Passivhaus Institut Darmstadt” in Germany (founded 1995) the Passive House concept has become the worldwide leading standard for energy efficient design and superior comfort.

Unlike the “Passive Solar Design” approach, a Passive House does not rely on solar gain and thermal mass.

Specialties

Passive House Design
Small Houses
Residential
Commercial 
Modern
Beach House
Alterations
Multi-Unit Apartments
Designs for people with disabilities

Testimonials

“I have been truly impressed by her highly organised and professional manner”

"I had a clear idea of what I would like our house to look like, but Susanne came up with a design that was far superior and makes excellent use of the space and aspect.


As requested, Susanne’s design incorporated energy efficient principles that I am also very interested in. I have been truly impressed by her highly organised and professional manner and have always found her to be a pleasure to interact with.


Susanne's architectural vision and attention to detail resulted in a house design that is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. I recommend Susanne unreservedly."



— Philippa Barrell, June 2023

“Susanne provided sound advice and guidance through the design process”

"Susanne has recently designed our new home which we are in the process of building. We wanted to build an energy-efficient home using sustainable materials. 


After visiting one of Susanne’s designs on a superhome tour, we knew she was the right architect for us. We had a very positive experience with Susanne who listened to our wishlist and turned it into an exciting solution.

Susanne provided sound advice and guidance through the design process, helping us to make good decisions, especially with sustainability and energy efficiency in mind. She researched new materials and guided us through the resource consent and building consent process. Communication was clear throughout the project, not only with us but also with the building team we engaged, ensuring we were all on the same page.

We can’t wait for our build to be finished so that we can see the final product! 


Thanks Susanne for all your help."


— Colin Grealy, December 2020

“Susanne was approachable, prepared to be collaborative and has listened to and incorporated design suggestions”

"Susanne from Architecta has designed a Minor Household Unit for my site in Christchurch. The site had limitations and my brief was to work within a budget, to maximise the size of the unit and to avoid having to apply for Resource Consent.


We have since worked through unforseen difficulties raise by Council to achieve building consent, and I am delighted with the innovative and creative solution she came up with and look forward to seeing it built.


Susanne was approachable, prepared to be collaborative and has listened to and incorporated design suggestions - where appropriate. She has always been clear and straightforward in her conversations with me and I highly recommend her."


— Jan Woodhouse, December 2020

“Worked very closely with our builder to help keep costs down”

"We worked with Architecta on the designs for our new-build house. We were keen to introduce as many energy efficient and eco-friendly features into the plans as possible, whilst working to a tight budget.


Susanne was extremely knowledgeable about the principles of energy efficient design and worked very closely with our builder to help keep costs down, advising us about areas where we could use less expensive materials and adapting the concept plan where necessary.


As the plot is part of a development, there were also a number of design restrictions and covenants to consider. Susanne was able to work with these but she also contacted the developers to see where rules could be bent and this was integral in coming up with a plan that worked for our site! Throughout the entire process, we were always kept informed and any inquiries that we had were answered very quickly. Once everything had been submitted to the council for consent, their questions and information requests were also handled very efficiently. Overall, our experience of working with Architecta was excellent!


We are extremely pleased with the finished plans and we cannot wait to see the building finished so that we can move in!!"


— Lauren, December 2020

“Susanne made her ideas very clear, and user-friendly”

"I have used Susanne for two major projects. One a significant earthquake repair combined with a substantial renovation. The other was a complicated renovation of an investment property.

 

Firstly let me emphasise the importance of human relations when under-taking such significant building. Susanne quickly stabled excellent working relations with the appropriate members of my family. Those relations were characterised by punctuality, vision, flexibility of thought and a strong commitment to keep within budget. Susanne made her ideas very clear and user-friendly but was open for alternative views and incorporated these into final plans in an accommodating, thoughtful and often humorous manner.


Her skills of architecture have been very evident with all planning procedures including drawing obtaining Council Consent in an efficient and effective manner. Put briefly Susanne from Architecta was superb."


— Professor Ian Culpan 2018

“There are no wasted dead spaces”

"We engaged Susanne to design an energy efficient home to the homestar 7 standard.


At the first meeting we came with a few rough ideas sketched down and within a few minutes Susanne had taken these rough ideas and completely remodeled them into what is the basis of the final design.


The building site had a number of tight constraints that needed to be worked within, in the end we don't think we could have come up with a better design and site layout that makes the most of the location, the northern aspects, and uses every square m so there are no wasted dead spaces."


— Richard White 2018

“Always on time”

"Very professional, very responsive to our needs, always on time, great communication, and a beautiful, modern, affordable home design to meet our dream."


— Steve and Juan Withington 2017

“Highly recommend to others”

"We found Susanne to be very professional and great to work with. She is a good communicator and listens to the needs of her clients. Her knowledge, work quality , and being able to meet deadlines makes Susanne some one that we can highly recommend to others."


— Kathryn & Meliisa Kirk 2017

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