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Industrial Project Awards Results

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National Category Winner: Industrial Project: APL Entrant Foster Group Project Partners BCD Group Ltd (Engineer), Foster Construction (Construction Company), Jasmax (Architect/Designer) Owned By Profile Group Ltd This industrial plant includes a 50,000sqm state-of-the-art glass factory, other manufacturing facilities, offices, and a two-story commercial kitchen. Measuring 437m long, the facility was the largest construction project undertaken in New Zealand between 2019 and 2021. Due to the sheer scale of the project, site manoeuvrability and management was challenging and needed careful management. Over 2,000 individuals worked on the project, with up to 400 people on-site at a time. The COVID lockdowns and accompanying supply chain disruption affected the build’s cost structure and timeline, but all trades collaborated to ensure the project was delivered on time and in-budget. Gaining 5-star Green Star certification, this project was designed and built to meet strict criteria. Standout sustainability aspects include 90% of construction waste being diverted from landfill, onsite ponds collecting water from the roof to be re-used, skylights reducing the need for artificial lighting, and timber being used to replace concrete where possible. Judges comments This industrial plant was the largest construction project undertaken in New Zealand between 2019 and 2021. The 50,000 square metre state-of-the-art factory features manufacturing facilities, offices, and a two-storey commercial kitchen. The complete development equates to the size of the Central North Island township of Ohura. The sheer scale of the build saw over 2,000 individuals work on the project with around 400 people on-site each day. This required a huge amount of organisation and collaboration from all involved.
Project: Oji Fibre Solutions Ltd - Project Sakura Entrant Calder Stewart Construction Project Partners Calder Stewart Construction (Architect/Designer/Construction Company/Project Manager/Quantity Surveyor), Engenium (Engineer) Owned By Oji Fibre Solutions OJI Fibre solutions is the fifth-largest pulp and paper company in the world. The Hornby factory is designed to manufacture corrugated cardboard products to food-grade standards for the South Island. This project saw Calder Stewart provide OJI with a new premises to upgrade their manufacturing capability. The solution required building a 32000m2 factory facility on a 77,000m2 site. Calder Stewart delivered a design build solution within 14 months of signing a contract. Achieving this was a major accomplishment, especially given the requirements of the different build components. The technical aspects of OJI’s fit out included extensive secondary steel structures with pipe bridges. The large-scale services installation required close collaboration with the construction team - firstly to ensure the design was completed in time and secondly, to correctly sequence the build phases to achieve the timeline.
Project: Project Goldrush Entrant First Principles Constructors Project Partners First Principles Constructors Limited (Construction Company), GEA (Project Manager), Stiles & Hooker (Architect/Designer) First Principles Construction (FPC) designed, constructed, and refurbished Westland Milk Products' butter hall to create the world's most advanced butter plant. This project involved earthquake strengthening, building a new packaging area and chiller, and replacing Westland's 45-year-old single churn with two new German-built churns. One of the main challenges presented to FPC was the tight timeline of 12 months, during one of New Zealand's most challenging periods for the construction sector. The team also needed an understanding of hygiene zones, workflows, and critical infrastructure requirements, as Westland was still producing milk powder during the project. FPC showed great foresight and project management skills, placing orders early, getting supplies on-site well before they were required, navigating supply challenges that came with COVID lockdowns, and extremely difficult winter weather. Despite these challenges, FPC turned the project around in time for the plant to produce butter on the promised date.
Project: AFDC Woolworths Entrant Macrennie Commercial Construction Project Partners Greenstone Group (Project Manager), Macrennie Commercial Construction (Construction Company), Rider Levett Bucknall (Quantity Surveyor), Silvester Clark (Engineer), Woodhams Meikle Zhan (Architect/Designer) Owned By AS NZ Property (Wiri) Pty Ltd The Auckland Fresh Distribution Centre is an 18,000 square metre facility built to handle 350,000 crates of produce a week. With various and large temperature-controlled areas, extreme attention to detail and complex engineering solutions were employed in this huge project. The building methodology consists of concrete footings, structural steel portals and trusses, metal roofing, and PIR panels. Being a Green Star project, it has a number of sustainability solutions, such as dust mitigation, rainwater harvesting, and solar panels. The build process itself had detailed environmental management plans and a specified percentage of waste was diverted from landfill. Procurement was incredibly important due to the size of the project and supply chain disruptions. Evaporators, sprinklers, PIR panels, and other large items were secured early to avoid any building delays. This huge build was delivered on time and in budget.
Project: NZ Post Entrant Macrennie Commercial Construction Project Partners Macrennie Commercial Construction (Construction Company), MSC Consulting Group (Engineer), RDT Pacific (Project Manager), Williams Architects (Architect/Designer) Owned By AS NZ Property (Wiri) Pty Ltd The NZ Post Project was part of a plan to cater for the large increase in online shopping. It involved the building of a 20,000m2 facility, with office spaces and integrated areas for the Ministry of Primary Industries and New Zealand Customs. A fully automated three-storey mail handling system was also installed. The electrical design and back-up systems are unique, catering for the 24-hour mail handling system and facility’s security requirements. The NZ Post Project is contracted at Greenstar 4 with a pathway to Greenstar 5. As a result, the project incorporated initiatives such as rainwater harvesting, energy monitoring, and onsite waste diversion. As the facility was built on the old Wiri quarry, ensuring the site’s stability was a challenge the project team had to overcome early on.
Project: 4 Unit Industrial Development Entrant SAM Property Project Partners Ashton Mitchell Architects (Architect/Designer), Gibson O'Connor Construction (Construction Company/Project Manager), MSC Consulting Group (Engineer), Silverdale Asset Management (SAM Property) (Project Manager) Owned By Southwest Energy Ltd This four-unit industrial development has been designed specifically for four very different tenants. Flexibility was key for the owners, with each space being created in a way that it could be easily modified for changing future needs. The design of water retention tanks proved to be a challenge as it restricted site access significantly during the excavation works. To overcome this a custom concrete tank was created in another site area resulting in only minor access restrictions, allowing the project to move forward. The project also made strong use of collaboration tools, with every team member having relevant information about the build accessible via smartphone.
Project: Estuary Business Park Entrant Inhaus Developments Project Partners Inhaus Developments (Construction Company/Project Manager), Weir Architecture (Architect/Designer) Owned By Boundary Holdings Nelson Ltd This development saw the creation of eight smart, robust and aesthetically pleasing commercial buildings for tenants to enjoy. It has been designed to have little to no ongoing maintenance and with weathertightness in mind. The build features metal cladding, tilt panels, and no internal gutters. Timeframe, budget, and material availability were all a challenge due to COVID and the accompanying supply chain disruption. The team purchased product well in advance to factor in supply delays and control cost escalations. The building site was also broken into three zones to comply with COVID protocols and social distancing.
Project: Daman Packing factory Entrant Unique Constructions Project Partners Air Flow Engineering Ltd (Engineer), Bondor NZ Ltd (Construction Company), Kylin Consultant Ltd (Engineer), THE DESIGNFIRE Architects & Fire Consultants (Engineer) This project created a new office and factory designed to meet strict New Zealand and Chinese pharmacy laws. Despite the large size of the factory, it is as clean as a hospital operating room. It is also the first factory outside of China for Daman Packaging. The factory machinery was intended to be set up by experts from overseas, but due to visa issues, the local team had to step in. Extensive collaboration and thousands of hours communicating with Chinese engineers led to the seamless creation of the packaging production line. This technical build is not only a testament to the skills of the tradespeople but also their cross-cultural communication and teamwork abilities.