Two Queenstown developments have received national recognition in the 2023 New Zealand Commercial Project Awards.
Skyline Enterprises’ O’Connells redevelopment won builder Naylor Love Central Otago the national retail category award, while Southbase Construction’s work on Hanley Farm’s Te Kura Whakatipu o Kawarau earned it the ‘construction marketing services education award’.
For O’Connells, Naylor Love’s entry noted more than 680 individual injection points were used to inject polyurethane resin to depths between 1m and 5m below the building to strengthen its structural resilience.
The project team also used a web-based collaboration platform to allow easy tracking of documentation, and keeping stakeholders informed, including letting them know when they were needed on site.
Judges commented the copper cladding and the floating cantilevered canopy are ‘‘stand-out features’’, as is the large, bright atrium within the building and hanging walkways that lead across it.
‘‘During the construction the whole building from the ground to the roof level was wrapped with an acoustic panel to allow demolition and construction to carry on without disturbing neighbouring properties.
‘‘Overall, this was a very collaborative approach, with a special effort made to work in with the council streetscape team.’’
Another finalist in that category was Brecon Street’s Upper Village complex, entered by Cook Brothers Construction, which won a silver
award.
Southbase’s award recognised the work it did on the 600-student school, which opened last year.
Their entry notes earthworks to flatten the site and prepare for building pads took a month and required more than 12,000 cubic metres of material to be carted off site.
Judges say construction waste was reduced and a third was recycled and repurposed, with a large amount of excavated soil — believed to be 80% — put to use on an adjacent site, with collaboration and planning key to delivering the school on time and budget.
Meantime, Driftaway Queenstown, entered by Ferguson Builders, and Holiday Inn Remarkables Park (Naylor Love) were both finalists in the
tourism and leisure category and both received silver medals.
