Even a brief look at the six finallists in the Lockwood House Of The Year competition underlines how enormously Lockwood homes have changed since the 1970s-1980s.
The attractive designs embodied in the six houses contesting the final show the difference and range of Lockwood homes these days, with members of the public encouraged to vote and go in the draw for a prize of a package of Smeg appliances worth more than $1100.
The six homes are the Pugh family beach house in Papamoa, the Webster family home in Coromandel, the Crombie family home in Wellington, plus Pam Markham-Barrett's "two storey beauty" (also in Wellington), Cherry Tree Rise in south Waikato, and a "rural lifestyle with views" home in the Western Bay of Plenty.
Lockwood sales and marketing manager Sarah Smith says the iconic building company is in its 70th anniversary year and has now constructed over 50,000 homes in New Zealand and overseas. The House of The Year competition demonstrates just how far the company has come since the days when many Lockwood homes were smaller, bach-style, residences which often creaked and groaned at night.
"We still find some people who remember staying or living in Lockwoods like that," she says. "The reality is that we still use our patented X-profile construction system but, of course, it has undergone many changes over the years – like the tape installed between each board to allow the timber to move, as all natural materials do, but without any noise."
As for the premium price many expect Lockwood to attract, Smith says Lockwoods "have the advantage of using off site manufacturing, reducing time on site and labour costs".
The company's long association with mills and other suppliers mean they are able to keep costs down and local supply and manufacturing circumvents the building materials shortages that have applied in the Covid-19 era.
Certainly the residents of the six finalist homes speak well of Lockwood, like Brian and Glennis Webster: "We love the strength and durability of Lockwood and are great believers in using wood. We also like to support local, so with the wood sourced and manufactured in New Zealand, Lockwood was an obvious choice."
Pam Markham-Barrett: "I've always loved Lockwood homes; I remember regularly holidaying in a 1970s Lockwood home in Taupo as a child and have such fond memories of that bach. Our home now evokes those same feelings and memories of my childhood – homeliness, familiarity and safety, although with a modern twist."
"From the outside, our home looks reasonably small, but our guests have been blown away by how spacious it really is, which all comes down to great design," says Jenny Mariu of the Cherry Tree Rise home she shares with husband Peter. Steve and Jo Pugh, whose Papamoa beach house is also a finalist, say: "We decided to take advantage of the views by building a two-storey home that had all the living space on the top floor…We wanted a fun house where we can all come together, where the grandkids can play and where we don't have to worry about sandy feet."
Fiona Crombie also nominated sustainability as a major factor: "With wood a renewable resource and the only major building material that helps tackle climate change, it was really important to us to use locally sourced pine."
Meanwhile the family from the home with rural views (they wanted to remain anonymous) say: "This is actually our third Lockwood home, we've always loved them. However, this time we opted for a bespoke design and build option to ensure the design fitted exactly with our needs and to ensure we took advantage of our commanding view."
Smith encourages people to take a good look through the homes in the competition: "We know Kiwis want bright airy homes with lots of space and light, and we want to show people how a Lockwood home can deliver that."
For more information and to enter the competition to win a Smeg appliance package: https://bit.ly/LockwoodVote