Our In-House Design Department | Superior Renovations
In 2024 we formalised something that had been growing quietly for years: our in-house Design Department.
From a room at the showroom to a full department
It started small. When our Wairau Valley showroom opened in 2022, we set up an appointment-only Design Studio at the back for client consultations. Demand for that side of the work kept building, so in 2024 we made it a proper department. Every Superior Renovations project is now designed in-house before a single wall comes down.
Formalising it made official what had been true in practice for years. Design has shaped how we plan renovations since we first brought designers into our client conversations, and the Design Department is where all of that now lives as a standing part of the service rather than something bolted on.
What our design team handles
The department covers the look and feel of your renovation from concept through to the finished room.
Concept and layout
Our designers work through how the space should function before anyone prices a build: where things go, how rooms connect, how the light works. Getting the concept right early is what keeps the rest of the project from fighting itself later.
Renders and material selection
They produce 3D renders so you can see the space before it’s built, and they guide the selection of colours, materials and finishes. Working from our showroom means a lot of those choices happen around real samples rather than swatches on a screen. The designers stay alongside your project team so the design intent doesn’t get lost somewhere between the drawing and the build.
Design Department or Sonder Architecture: which does what
One distinction worth making. Our Design Department is separate from Sonder Architecture, our architectural-design studio, which handles consent drawings and the structural side of a renovation. The Design Department is about the interior and the aesthetic: how the finished space looks, feels and functions.
Put simply, if your renovation needs council consent or structural drawings, that’s the work of Sonder’s architectural designers. If it’s about how the kitchen looks or the palette that runs through the whole home, that’s the Design Department. Plenty of projects use both, and the two teams work together, but they’re different jobs done by different people.
What this means for you
Bringing design in-house means we’re not waiting on an outside firm, and the people designing your renovation are the same people who see it built. You get to look at your renovation in 3D before you commit to it, which takes a lot of the guesswork out of signing off a design. You can read more about how our design team works with Auckland homeowners if you’re weighing up a project.
Common questions about our design service
Is design included in a Superior Renovations project?
Yes. Since we formalised the Design Department in 2024, every project is designed in-house before the build starts, so design isn't a separate service you have to source and manage yourself.
What's the difference between the Design Department and Sonder Architecture?
The Design Department handles the interior and aesthetic side: layout feel, renders, colours, materials and finishes. Sonder Architecture is a separate architectural-design studio that handles consent drawings and the structural side. Many renovations use both.
Will I see my renovation before it's built?
Yes. Our designers produce 3D renders so you can see how the finished space will look and make changes on screen, well before anything is built on site.
Where do design consultations happen?
In the appointment-only Design Studio at the back of our Wairau Valley showroom, where you can work through colours, materials and finishes around real samples rather than choosing everything from a screen.
