We contacted Brent and the Evolution Builders team for a large-scale renovation on our villa in Grey Lynn in 2011.
Brent came to us on recommendation from our architect, Studio John Irving, as they had successfully completed a number of projects together. It was important to us that there was a strong and established working relationship between our builder and architect as this collaboration is crucial to a great outcome.
From the very first meeting with Brent, we knew that Evolution were the right team for our project. Their approach was open and very transparent and we had immediate confidence in their ability to get the job done.
We had heard nightmare stories from prople who had built and renovated in the past, so we went into the project with a little trepidation, but with Brent on board, these fears were completely unfounded.
Throughout the project, Brent worked really collaboratively with us and with our architect and we felt we knew what was going on at every stage of the build. The team was true to their word on timing and budget and the end result is a fantastic home to live in, delivered to our high standards around quality.
For budget reasons, we chose to live through much of the renovation so we couldn’t have been much more active on site. The guys at Evolution were really accommodating throughout and would always leave the site tidy to ensure we had a good experience and minimum disruption (despite liging in a construction zone with a makeshift kitchen).
We couldn’t recommend Brent and the Evolution team more highly. They are open, honest, and pragmatic, and we would definitely look to use them again in the future.

A stunning property was purchased for the location of a holiday house that literally has 360 degree views. This was going to be a challenging but rewarding project. Studio John Irving was commissioned to create the house with a brief of natural products large living areas and spacious bedrooms. He created two massive decks off the main pavilion, one north east facing and the other north west to make the most of the stunning views and to give protection from the wind.
Further to this two master bedroom suites where built at opposite ends of the house so guests could stay with privacy. Another pod was incorporated to create two more bedrooms and a main bathroom. The house was based on dark earthy tones so it would blend into the environment with black anodised floor to ceiling joinery and dark stained cedar weather boards.
The remote location meant the project needed to be managed extremely well and it also needed to fit within a challenging timespan.

After many moves over a relatively short number of years we made the decision to settle down with our young family in Beachlands. Unable to find an established home which suited the way we wanted to live, we bought a bach on a quarter acre section with the plan to move it off after building our new home at the rear of the site. We engaged Architect Matt Brew who interpreted our brief perfectly, designing a modest sized mid century styled home made of raw materials.
Early in the process we decided we would wait until we had found a builder we could trust and who would ‘finish’ our home to a high standard. We had a tight budget so having a builder we knew could manage the process well was also critical to us. It took 12 months to find Craig and his team at Evolution. It was clear to us through the selection process that he had a passion for his work, set high standards for himself and was great with people. Throughout our build, Craig demonstrated these characteristics consistently.
No build of an architecturally designed home is complete without its issues and we learnt that when it comes to design, simplistically creates complexity. Whenever issues arose Craig worked diligently and professionally with our Architect, his team and sub contractors to resolve them. Craig’s attention to detail and willingness to work closely with us to manage costs meant that our project came in on budget.
We were living on site during the build and the Evolution team were respectful and kept the property incredibly tidy. When we come to build the next stage of our project we will definitely be using Evolution and we have already recommended them to others.