House of the Year Awards

Hallmark Homes are National Finalists again in 2008!

Once again the building excellence of Hallmark Homes has been nominated for a National House of the Year award - twice! Mike & Esther Bonné's home in Ohope has been nominated for two awards, the Nulook Builder's Own Home Award, and the Meridian Sustainable Homes $500,000 - $1,000,000 Award. Members of the Hallmark Homes team will travel to Auckland to join builders from all over New Zealand for the national awards ceremony mid to late November.

Finalists for the National Awards were selected from the best of the regional winners awards earlier this year. Hallmark Homes won 5 awards plus the People's choice awards at the Whakatane awards in July this year.

Winner of five 2008 House of the Year Awards plus the People's Choice

Picture of Master Builder of the Year Cup THE Whakatane Registered Master Builders Association’s local awards night was a big success for Whakatane’s Hallmark Homes. Owners Mike and Esther Bonne came home with the new Whakatane Beacon People’s Choice Award, the Gib Living Solutions, Pink Batts Ultra Energy Efficiency and the Future Proof Building Awards, as well as gold in both the Nulook Builders Own Home Award and the Sustainable Building Award.

Though they’ve had plenty of success in previous contests, which Mike and Esther regard as a fantastic marketing tool, they were thrilled with this year’s results. They were particularly pleased to win the inaugural Whakatane Beacon People’s Choice Award.

“It means that people like what you’re doing and it’s a great reference for new home buyers,” Mike says. Mike and Esther’s beautiful harbourside family home at Ohope proved a fantastic showcase for Hallmark Homes’ design and construction skills – especially as the home was designed by Esther.

Large and luxurious, it incorporates some of the latest building materials and makes highly effective use of architectural aluminium doors and deep, double glazed windows. Designed to provide a functional environment for family living, the 300 sqm home has four double bedrooms and large, open living spaces, with excellent indoor-outdoor flow. The design makes the most of the home’s spectacular location and a high standard of workmanship and superb attention to detail is evident in every aspect of its construction.

Mike says judging for the Sustainable Building Award took into account aspects of the home’s design and construction such as the layer of polystyrene under the floor for more effective
heating and the home’s highly efficient solar heating system. It also considered the fact that during the building process very little timber was wasted and efforts were made to recycle cardboard
packaging and other materials. “It’s something we try to do on every project,” he says.

The Gib Living Solutions Award came as a result of the effective use of various Gib products in soundproofing areas of the home, while the Pink Batts Ultra Energy Efficiency Award recognised the high standard of insulation throughout the home and the use of systems such as double glazing and solar heating. The Future Proof Building Award covered similar aspects.

“These awards overlap to some degree but this one looks at things such as how you handle electric wiring and how you do the heating and power systems,” Mike says. Winning such a wide array of awards is fantastic recognition for the quality and workmanship that goes into Hallmark homes, he says

“We’re a fairly small company and we don’t have the marketing dollars some companies have, but most importantly, these awards are reassurance for our clients that they’ve chosen their builder wisely. When you get a totally independent person saying you’ve done a good job, it’s just tremendous.”

While the home was a major winner locally, the builder’s own home category of the awards isn’t eligible for the Supreme Award at local or national level. However the Bonné’s home could
still be chosen for a prestigious national award. “We’re keeping our fingers crossed,” Mike says.