Architects and Specifiers

Raising everyone’s game

New Zealand’s talented architects and architectural designers are key partners of ours, and we’ve always worked closely with them to raise our collective game. APL, for instance, was the first Kiwi window and door company to develop a specific suite of high performance products especially for architecturally designed homes and apartments.

Getting behind our young architects

We’re also heavily involved in supporting the associated professional bodies. APL is the sole sponsor of both the EMERGE and NZIA (New Zealand Institute of Architects) Registration programmes, for example. In the latter case, we’ve been involved for 12 years in backing this important programme of seminars and workshops for new architectural graduates.

New co-sponsors of the NZIA awards

In 2021 we upped the ante by signing on as co-sponsors of the NZIA's annual New Zealand Architecture Awards. Dave Downey, CEO of APL Window Solutions, says the sponsorship is a natural progression after two decades of backing the NZIA. “Our previous support has centred around education and early career development for architects, so we were happy to move that up a notch and ensure the continuation of a much-admired awards programme,” he says.

Fostering architectural designers and Master Builders

Our relationship with the Architectural Designers of New Zealand (ADNZ) and the Registered Master Builders Association (RMBA) is just as committed. In the case of the ADNZ, we’ve been a National Sponsor for 20-plus years, and we’re now two years into a four-year term as a Premium Sponsor. We also recently signed a three-year agreement to sponsor the Master Builders’ House of the Year ‘Sustainable Excellence Award’ at regional and national events.

Close relationships

For the last five years, APL has been a major sponsor of the Retirement Villages Association of New Zealand’s national conference, reflecting a close relationship that helps us develop products to suit this particular sector. Likewise for the education sector, where we sponsor regional meetings and conferences of Learning Environments New Zealand (LENZ), an organisation that’s all about the delivery of quality learning environments in state and private sectors.

Sustainability building blocks

As part of our ongoing commitment to sustainable building practices, APL has a proud association with the New Zealand Green Building Council (NZGBC). Building more sustainable projects – both commercial and residential – is in the interests of everyone in the building industry.

Two measuring systems administered by the Green Building Council are the well-known Green Star rating system for commercial projects and the Homestar rating tool that measures the health, warmth and efficiency of houses and apartments. Commercial window systems feature in many projects which have been Green Star rated. For example, thermally-shielded high-rise glazing systems are part of the APL product portfolio.

The Homestar tool assesses the full and final plans from which the home will be built, and then post-construction certification is carried out to confirm implementation.

We’re proud to say that our Residential Series, Metro Series and APL Architectural Series Ranges are now ‘Declared’ by the International Living Future Institute. It means we’re being measured by an industry-recognised tool that requires us to be totally transparent about our products. It offers specifiers the tools they need to make fully informed choices when selecting healthier products.

Resources for specifiers

EBOSS is an online library of product catalogues from New Zealand's leading architectural product suppliers, including our Altherm, First and Vantage brands.

Products in the EBOSS library contain scope of use, limitations and building code compliance information, case studies, plus product literature like drawings, CAD and BIM, warranties, appraisals and more.

Detailed specification clauses for products are available on the Masterspec website under APL Window Solutions.

Masterspec serves the New Zealand construction industry with a pre-formatted, up-to-date database of specification clauses, using an online interface to structure, edit, add support documentation and output to multiple formats.

APL specifications are also available on Smartspec.co.nz

We've created a compilation of podcast episodes from our Altherm, First and Vantage magazine collaborations. The podcasts feature HERE editor Simon Farrell-Green, Homestyle editor Alice Lines or Your Home & Garden editor Fiona Hawton discussing the vision, challenges, and triumphs behind recent home projects with the home’s architect. With 30+ episodes, and new episodes added with each magazine issue, there are bound to be some familiar names and projects, and some new favourites too. Listen on Spotify

APL Specifier Guide

You can find product drawings and technical information in the APL Specifier Guide, with extensive detail on the complete library of products in the First Windows & Doors, Vantage Windows & Doors and Altherm Windows Systems ranges, including Residential ThermalHEART^®, Metro Series, Metro Series ThermalHEART^® and APL Architectural Series.

Advice

Technical

Our advisory service draws on the wide expertise of the technical team at APL.

The advisory service can be accessed in the following ways:

Phone: 07 849 8888

Email: apl.techinfo@aplnz.co.nz

Website: eboss.co.nz

Manufacturer

Our manufacturers are in your local area and have a wealth of experience in meeting specifier design requests and queries on technical issues. Because of their involvement in manufacturing and installation on a daily basis, manufacturer advice is highly practical.

Contact your local manufacturer through our websites:

Stories

APL Structural Glaze Used in New Rolleston Library

The anchor landmark building for the future Rolleston Town Centre, Te Ara Ātea, featured the APL 168mm Structural Glaze window suite.

Overhaul of NZ Window Industry Standards

Far reaching changes are coming to the window industry with the revisions to the Building Code H1 energy efficiency standards announced by government late last year.

New Complex Reflects Faith in Queenstown’s Future

Altherm commercial window systems were used on a new Queenstown complex which has nudged the town’s retail centre-of-gravity a little closer to the Skyline gondola.

Prefabrication of Vantage Windows in Pre-cast Panels

An unusual prefabrication process was used to install Vantage windows into precast concrete modules for The University of Auckland’s latest student accommodation building in the Carlaw Park precinct in the central city.

New Tauranga Student Accommodation

Tauranga has taken another step towards being a university town with the opening of a sleek, $20 million student accommodation complex associated with the city’s University of Waikato campus.

Finetuning to APL Sustainable Excellence Award

APL’s Sustainable Excellence Award in the Master Builders House of the Year is to be broadened to include a wider list of judging criteria and automatic eligibility for builders.

New Puhinui Station

Auckland’s new, $69 million rail-bus interchange, Puhinui Station, has an eye-catching sculptural design.

Simple yet sophisticated

An award-winning Marlborough wine research facility used Altherm facade systems and thermally efficient windows in a building that NZIA judges described as simple in form but sophisticated in functionality.

Multi-Award-Winning Innovation

A stunning commercial facade that had 270 unique glass panes was the supreme winner at the annual design awards of the Window & Glass Association New Zealand (WGANZ).

Sustainability to the Fore

Comprehensive environmental and social codes are part of the design ethos used by Tennent Brown Architects.

The New Waitangi Museum

Te Rau Aroha Museum on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds is a building with two contrasting frontages.

2020 Master Builders Award

APL’s ThermalHEART windows and doors were a key part of the prize-winning home that won the national ‘Sustainable Excellence’ award.

Award-Winning Nelson Apartments

Nelson’s large-scale residential development featured Altherm windows and doors from a product palette that allowed individual apartment purchasers to customise their choice.

Striking Early Childhood Centre

“Designing beautiful spaces for children,” is how Auckland architect, Phil Smith, explains his design philosophy for preschool centres.