On the 17th of January 2022 our team from around the country converged on the Arete Retreat in the Tararua Forest Park to kick of 2022. An event named ’72 Months Young’ pointing to the relative youthfulness of the brand and how far we have come in such a short time, but our focus on where we can take the brand over the coming years.
A beautiful secluded location, nestled amongst the native bush and described as ‘off-grid, carbon neutral, discrete, peaceful and calm’. It was excellent to bring the whole team together after the summer break and a fresh start from what has been a turbulent past two years for everyone. Sally Duxfield, the founder of Arete had a vision ‘to create a naturally inspiring retreat experience designed to evoke deep thought and innovation from simplicity – enabling clients to disconnect to connect’. What a perfect location to go over the following!
Vision & Values – it is great to go back to our ‘why’ and remind ourselves why we exist and what unique value and experience we can bring to New Zealand’s architectural community. Enabling world-class design and building the most respected architectural supplier brand in the market is what gives us a sense of purpose and where we can make a genuine positive impact on the industry here.
Brand – Distilling our brand values, what our position is in the market, where we are taking the brand in the next 5+ years and the importance of an exceptional brand experience delivered by our people is some of the things we discussed as a team. How can we remove the noise and inherent complexities in the industry and have beautiful, sustainable products that designers love working with?
2022 Collection Launch – It was exciting to launch our 2022 Collection to the team that will be introduced to the market in February. Some amazing new innovations, finishes and designs that have been developed over the past 12 months and we can’t wait to bring these to market. Working with some of the worlds most innovative companies in wood flooring and veneer finishes and having the privilege of bringing these to New Zealand architects and interior designers is a great passion for our team and they are all looking forward to sharing it with you this year.
Sustainability Goals – In 3 short years, VidaSpace will be 10 years old and supplying natural wood products which store carbon, into the construction market is a key way we can contribute to helping reduce the big contribution that building products has to our carbon footprint in New Zealand. We also went over a lot of other sustainability initiatives we are doing as a company and brainstormed where we can step up the game over the coming years. Choosing to partner with like-minded supply partners is also a critical factor in our sustainability journey.
Sally Duxfield – Sally is the founder of Arete, a visionary leader and high-performance coach working with teams from all around the world, across business, military and sport. She took the team through some fun and challenging exercises that challenged our team work and problem solving. Being specialist in neuroscience and a background in the military, she shared some insightful learnings about solving complex problems, dealing with anxiety and stress, working with different personalities and how we respond under pressure.
A great day was had by all and we look forward to our next team days during the year.
Elevate your interior with VidaSpace. Contact us and one of our team of trained interior designers will be able to guide you through the process.
