up close + personal with dino colica CO-OWNER, ZAZEN BUILD & DESIGN
It’s a philosophy of what we are about – harmonious balance and meditation rather than a run-of-the-mill house. The house we build is a home for someone, their sanctuary and where they feel comfortable.
How did you get involved in the building industry?
I started with an apprenticeship in painting with my father but that ended up being a stepping stone. I’d been exposed to building all my life and had a passion for it early on, alongside a strong work ethic from my European parents. Scheduling and estimating with project builders gave me the next insight into building. That made me decide this was what I wanted to do. I worked for a number of large project and then boutique builders, eventually moving into project management and construction supervising. I got my builder’s registration and spent four years learning every aspect of design and construction.
Seventeen years on you have your own company – Zazen Build & Design – which does residential design and build, renovations and small scale commercial. How did that come about?
At first I thought about doing it all on my own and then decided it made more sense to have a partner. I met my business partner – John Simunovich – at one of the small building companies we worked for. We hit it off and realised we were on the same page, which was creating a building company that had an unrivalled level of true personal service. I found there were great aspects of all the places I worked and dealt with so I took all the positive things and compiled them in a scrapbook which became my bible of what I wanted my own company to look like, leaving all the negative stuff behind. That became the basis for our ethos. A former cabinet maker, John and I are the same age. We see ourselves as yin and yang. He’s quite relaxed and very laid back and I’m a control freak who likes to know what’s going on all the time, so if anyone asks a question I’m across it. Ultimately we compliment each other. John is very design oriented and on site fulltime while I’m in the office as project manager.
When did you start Zazen?
We started Zazen on May 2, 2009 and began building our first house in December. Our first home was completed last year. We consider it very much a handmade product. Zazen can do up to 15 homes a year which is our maximum capacity in order to keep control and retain our level of service. We build homes up to $1 million but the average seems to be $500,000 to $600,000. We don’t want to get bigger.
At Zazen one of the things you pride yourself on is your close and supportive working relationship with both your clients and trades.
We do have positive relationships with our clients. We like to have a laugh and a joke where it’s appropriate and in some case people who we have built homes for have become our friends. I think that’s something special in the building industry. We hand over the keys and six months later our clients invite us over for a BBQ to see the landscaping. We foster that close relationship.
All our clients have built more than once before. Most of them have a concept and have done extensive research on products and style. They’ve been through all the home opens and decided what they like and don’t like. They want a custom home, are very knowledgeable and know what they want. Some people are highly organised and have scrapbooks full of ideas and products and other people just come to us with their vision. We have an in-house designer and treat it like it’s our own home. I think that’s why most of the homes we build come via referral.
A lot of the trades we work with have moved with us. They took a big risk by following us into our own venture but knew we were going to look after them. I think they respect that. We have relationships with all our people and they in turn build our homes. Also, because they are the same people on the site all the time, the clients get to have a relationship with them as well and know them by name. All that adds up to a real care factor.
What do you look for in a home and what would you like to see more of around Perth in our homes?
If there’s something I don’t like about a home and the client wants to hear it, I’ll tell them. As much as it’s their home, we’re also displaying what we can do. That comes down to us offering as much as we can and then it’s up to the client to take it on board.
Ultimately the design needs to look good and work properly. At a fundamental level it needs to consider energy efficiency – do you need an air-conditioner here if we can do X instead. It’s important to build responsibly as much as to build something timeless but at the same time creating something the client loves.
Personally, I’d like to see more timeless homes generally featuring traditional face brick; nice red and tumbled bricks, something a little different to render. I walk into a home and get a feel straight away. What I like to see in a home is a warm character and that inviting.
How did you choose Zazen as the company name?
It’s a philosophy of what we are about – harmonious balance and meditation rather than a run-of-the-mill house. The house we build is a home for someone, their sanctuary and where they feel comfortable. In choosing the company name I wanted something that stood out and got people to realise that we were thinking outside the square. In our logo, the Z in the circle is not quite closed, meaning it’s still open to ideas and new ways of looking at something.
I’m vegan and support Free the Bears which is part of my life, but I try and incorporate that into the company. It’s part of how I feel about living responsibly on this earth. What echoes through the company is trying to be responsible for how we move and work in the building industry. We’re as personal and compassionate as possible as opposed to being close-minded. Apart from my wife Be, our admin manager, I have three dogs which we rescued, love playing music and practising Taekwondo. Together they all inspire me from day to day. We’re based out of my house and the dogs can sit on the floor near me all day if they want. I don’t take any of that for granted.