Sky High Supreme Winner

VOCO-HIE
CATEGORY
2023 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards Supreme Winner
Built Tourism and Leisure Project Category Award Winner
Commercial Project Over $25 million Value Award Winner

ENTRANT
ICON NZ
PROJECT PARTNERS
ICON CO PTY NZ 
(Construction Company)

About the build:

Dan Ashby, Director at Icon NZ, and James Sherriff  Project Director of Voco-HIE were both extremely proud of the Icon team and the project stakeholders after winning the Supreme Award at the 2023 Commercial Project Awards. 

“This award solidifi ed that hard work, integrity, and collaboration really does produce results. It is a recognition of Icon NZ’s position as the leading New Zealand builder of large complex CBD projects, and particularly high-rise construction,” says Dan.

“Voco-HIE really is a unique building with some unusual construction challenges. At Level 21 the structure and layout changed via transfer beams to accommodate diff ering column grids. This needed some innovative engineering, extensive planning, and risk management,” explained James.

Successes

For Dan, James and the team at Icon NZ the nature of this build meant it was not without challenges.

“Complicated site access and the logistics of a constrained CBD site were two of the biggest challenges we faced throughout the build. There was a single loading bay on a steep inner-city street with live tra ffi c and pedestrians in close proximity. The restrictions were overcome by extensive prefabrication, tight logistics planning and the use of a self-climbing jump-form system for the concrete core, allowing it to be built in an e ffi cient ‘workshop-like’ environment,” said James. 

“The most fulfilling aspect of the project was the teamwork between all stakeholders. These challenges were overcome through a relentless focus on a “best for project” approach driven by a passionate commitment to deliver an outstanding result,” continues Dan.

Judges comments:

This extraordinary building is a great addition to Auckland’s CBD and is a strong contender for the most elegant high-rise in the city. It has achieved this status by skilfully exploiting its unique brief of accommodating two independent hotels, one atop the other, on a constrained inner-city site. 

The two hotels have completely different requirements, such as separate entries, receptions, gyms, kitchens, and banks of lifts. The skilful sequencing and planning for this entire project were a major factor in its success and one we are proud to call our Supreme Winner for 2023.