We are super excited to announce we won Bronze in the Project Award $1-$5 million and a finalist in the Lighting Design Award at the Master Electrician Excellence Awards 2022. This was for the electrical work we carried out on a magnificent sprawling 2400sqm rural home in Coatesville; designed by Hulena Architects and built by PSL Construction.

The Master Electricians Excellence Awards is a biennial competition to recognise excellence with the electrical contracting industry. There were 63 entries from around New Zealand and according to one of the judges the quality was impressive.

This is the first time we have entered into the event and are thrilled with the outcome, Buzz Electrics won gold for the Villa Maria winery and Millars Electrical Contractors took out silver for their work on the NZ Bus Electrical Infrastructure, congratulation to both these company it’s a honor to be up against such high caliber electrical companies.

This has been one of our biggest projects to date, one that we initially turned down due to its size. But we then took on this exciting assignment, after much persuasion from the builder, and took on its many architectural challenges – including wiring a tower crane and a commercial back-up generator on a residential site.

PSL Construction went onto win four awards in the Resene New Home over $2 million category (Auckland/Northland/Coromandel region), including Regional Supreme House of the Year 2020.

This architectural home was constructed from extra thick in-situ concrete and steel, and included multiple living and bedroom spaces, an office, media room, guest wing, garages and helicopter hangar.

Our part of this project began with providing mains power to the driveway gate in February 2016 and continued over four years. It was very much a collaborative effort as the project evolved.

There were several occasions where we demonstrated skill beyond compliance, including recalculating maximum demand and providing solutions for the construction team.

Based on preliminary electrical schematics a 100 kva transformer was installed by Northpower, providing power 300m up the driveway. Initially there was no scope for the mechanical services and it became clear after the transformer was installed, and half of the home was constructed, that it was not going to be big enough for the maximum demand required.

The original maximum demand was at 160-amp 3 phase for the house, and the air conditioning increased from 100amp 3 phase up to 150-amp per phase.

In consultation with Phil Leach, the construction manager, Martin worked through possible loading scenarios and determined the power connection needed to be increased to 315-amps per phase.

A year after the project started, the client agreed to a new 300kva transformer to be installed.

Another example of collaboration was Martin’s solution to locating a water supply plant room required for seven tanks. Martin’s suggestion of installing an eighth tank to be used as the plant room – so it did not look out of place – was the perfect solution.

Another technical challenge was designing and wiring up the generator. We worked in consultation with Trans Diesel to get specifications for cable size and details about the changeover switch and signal cables which needed to be built into the main switchboard. The client decided he wanted the generator to cope with a full load to run the entire house, so the generator had to be increased in size.

A lighting plan was provided by Inlight. This beautiful architectural plan is very labour intensive, and requires a great deal of attention to detail, as Martin says, “This is where we make the magic happen”.

As examples, the architectural trimless downlights were fitted level with the ceiling and plaster finished, providing negative detail; LED strip lighting was inlaid into in-situ steps cut into the grass banks and in the hand-crafted oak timber spiral staircases.

All the lighting is Dali controlled with each circuit running back to automation panels.

The electrical scheme also included underfloor heating, automated blinds and curtains, an electric blackout window and hydraulic helicopter hanger door.

And finally at the end of the project, after all the changes, 10 distribution boards were fitted off throughout the house.

It takes good management to complete a project this size to the high level required by the construction company, client and architect. The fact Good Electrical is the preferred electrical contractor for award-winning PSL Construction, speaks volumes.

A cluster of linked pavilions make up this sprawling rura