Leadership in construction

Design Community of Practise quickfire presentation:  A presentation from our Environmental Manager Alex Bees, on the digital approach to environmental management taken at the Eastern Busway Project. Alex discusses how the project has made great use of ArcGIS layers and newly released embedded tools to assist with managing the environmental effects of earthworks, runoff and construction works in a suburban environment.

Design Community of Practise quickfire presentation:  A presentation from our Delivery Outcomes Manager, Matt Findlay outlining the New Zealand Upgrade Programme (NZUP).

This case study showcases how a multi-storey timber frame apartment complex across three six-storey buildings containing 216 modules is being constructed with offsite manufacturing.

After seeing a market demand for suppliers who could deliver quality housing at pace and scale, Property Partners decided to investigate offsite-manufacturing. They started researching offsite manufacturing methods around the world, and ultimately decided that the Swedish model was the best approach for them to bring to the New Zealand market.

Beacon case studies showcase examples of good practice and innovation in the construction sector.

Read the case study

While the use of offsite manufacturing techniques is becoming increasingly popular around New Zealand for small-scale builds, Property Partners wanted to use timber volumetric modular construction, a form of offsite manufacturing in which buildings are put together by connecting a series of pre-built modules and stacking them vertically to build apartments. This offsite manufacturing method is common in Sweden and globally.

Last August, Aotearoa New Zealand’s concrete industry launched its roadmap to net zero carbon by 2050.

Concrete New Zealand (NZ) chief executive Rob Gaimster says the publication of the roadmap is a pivotal moment for the concrete industry and the country’s built environment.

“We must provide adaptive solutions that address and help ease the impacts of climate change in a country that is also at risk of earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.

“As well as contributing to our nation’s resilience, the concrete industry is committed to being part of efforts to mitigate climate change.

“This roadmap represents a collective effort, combining the expertise, ingenuity, and commitment of the concrete industry and wider construction sector, to meeting our environmental responsibilities. It builds on global cement and concrete industry progress to achieve net zero carbon emissions which has been recognised by the United Nations.”

ViDoc is the combination of the iPhone Lidar scanning and a GPS antenna mounted on the phone cover. This allows us to scan our work and georeference the scans with high accuracy.

Engineering Services provides an overview on the drone technology and digital tools Fletcher Construction used in Papua New Guinea projects.

Fletcher Morobe Construction's Joinery Workshop has found ways to reuse the wood waste they produce. In 2012 the manager of the workshop received a sustainability award from Fletcher Building for their innovation around reusing wood waste, saving cost and decreasing their environmental impact. Over 11 years later, the team at the Joinery Workshop is still doing amazing, sustainable work.

Winstone Aggregates is committed to kaitiakitanga - and being excellent custodians of the planet - both now and for generations to come.

Winstone Aggregates has bold ambitions for rehabilitating the environments and ecosystems they work in, supporting local people and communities, and constantly resetting the standard for sustainability that others will aspire to.

Winstone Aggregates' goal is to positively impact our environment, through restoring our already existing forest ecosystems around Aotearoa. To do this they've developed a framework with Nature Positive that is consistent with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and have adopted the Biodiversity Indicator & Reporting System (BIRS). They’re also working with Mana Whenua to weave in Mātauranga Māori frameworks, which will further strengthen the strategy.

Technology helped facilitate closer collaboration between all teams involved in the successful installation of a temporary electrical supply for our Snells Beach site facility.

We hosted a kōrero with the AUT School of Future Environments about how infrastructure providers and Mana Whenua can build positive relationships.

It’s an area where many of us have a lot to learn, so this was a great opportunity for our people, partners and customers to listen to the wisdom of Rawiri Faulkner (Mana Whenua Partnerships Manager, Te Arana Alliance), Otene Reweti (Pou Hononga, Watercare), and Val Panui (Kaitohutohu Ahurea Matua, Fletcher Building) – facilitated by AUT professor Tania Ka’ai.

We discussed what we can all do on an individual level as well as what we can do better as businesses. Take a look at the video to learn more. 

Where do our emissions come from? What is embodied carbon and how is it shown in an Environmental Product Declaration or EPD? Find out what Fletcher Building is doing about embodied carbon in this Lunch and Learn session.

Watercare joins our Engineering Services team to talk about facilitation and online collaboration tools, with a focus on Miro.

Design Community of Practise quickfire presentation: A presentation from our BIM Manager Joyal Jerry and SPE Ryan Clifton on the use of 4D design at the Eastern Busway Project. Joyal and Ryan discuss how they have used 4D planning in the development of the installation methodology for the Reeves Road Flyover.

We have a partnership with Groov, which is seeing a passionate team led by Sir John Kirwan deeply embedding a culture of wellbeing across the business.

This starts with developing wellness leaders to understand and prioritise their own wellbeing, who then help their teams to do the same.

We offer a Safety Leadership Programme which works on a set of concrete principles, delivered by our operational line leaders in an interactive, engaging two day workshop.

Once leaders have completed the safety leadership programme and exhibit leadership behaviours and mindsets, they are ready to deliver the Power Up Frontline Programme to our workers and regular contractors.

MATES in Construction is a charity that exists to reduce the number of lives lost to suicide in the construction industry.

Our New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC) and Snells Beach Wastewater Treatment Plant teams are proud to be accredited with MATES.

To become accredited, at least 80% of site workers had to receive MATES’ General Awareness training. The sites also have to maintain a minimum number of people who’ve gone through the next stage of MATES training and become a ‘Connector’.

For the NZICC team, all of this means working to foster an environment where anyone can openly have a korero with their mates on how they’re going.

At the Snells Beach project, project manager Paul Ashcroft says he constantly sees evidence of the empathy and keenness to look out for each other when someone is in troubled times. “Achieving this recognition and support means we are stronger together to prevent suicide.”

We’re using a remote control roller in our work to repair one of the major slips in Coromandel (McBeth-Opoutere). We’ve built a retaining wall to support the road above, backfilled it, and the roller has just finished levelling.

The remote control roller is used in areas where we need to flatten ground near any steep drop-offs. This means if something did go wrong and the roller tipped off the edge, none of our people would be hurt in the process.

Te Ao Māori values support successful outcomes for the Client, project team and the planet through The Te Wānanga o Raukawa Living Building Project in Ōtaki.

Four new buildings were recently completed at the Ōtaki campus of Te Wānanga o Raukawa. Led by tohunga, the buildings were named and dedicated in May 2023 by members of Te Āti Awa, Ngāti Raukawa and Ngāti Toa Rangatira. They were joined by workers and contractors from McMillan Lockwood, Pritchards Civil Engineers, Tennent Brown Architects, and students, kaiāwhina and staff.

The buildings are named Waitapu, Rangataua, Miria te Kakara, and Te Moana o Raukawa. The names are taken from the whakatauki (saying): "Mai i Waitapu ki Rangataua, mai i Miria te Kakara ki Whitireia, whakawhitia Te Moana o Raukawa ki Wairau ki Whakatū," which describes the rohe of the three iwi.

The naming of these buildings is the culmination of a project which began prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and has faced all the challenges that have arisen since then. From early fears of recession through to cost escalations and supply chain issues, the client, architect, quantity surveyor, contractor and sub-contractors have worked collaboratively to achieve an outcome which they all agree has been a huge success on many levels.

Beacon case studies showcase examples of good practice and innovation in the construction sector.

Read the case study