Dairy Rubberware facility wins Supreme Commercial Project of the Year

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Project Viking, Skellerup’s Dairy Rubberware Development and Manufacturing facility in Christchurch, was awarded the Supreme Commercial Project of the Year at SkyCity in Auckland recently.

The prestigious New Zealand Commercial Project Awards, owned and run by the Registered Master Builders Association (RMBA), set the benchmark for commercial construction in New Zealand.

The facility, entered by Calder Stewart Construction Ltd, was designed to optimise Skellerup’s production needs, integrating their design and product development functions.

An incredible 182,000-plus man-hours went into this five-stage project, and the massive 18,900sq m building is functional, practical and sustainable, providing room for growth into the future.

Judges said this $25 million project required an innovative design approach, particularly in constructing the 1000-tonne shot tower to an Importance Level 3 seismic design.

“The big challenge for the team was the time pressure to get the new Greenfield facility operational, so that the manufacturing plant could return to full production following the February 2011 earthquake.

“Not having a fully-defined design brief, and constant structural changes throughout the design phase was a challenge for all involved,” they said.

“We were very impressed with the approach taken by the lead contractor, who worked closely with the client, consultants, subcontractors, and off-shore plant manufacturers to embrace and solve each challenge.

“This has created one of the world’s leading ‘Dairy Rubberware Vulcanisation Plants’, which manufactures its own rubber on-site.

“This project is deservedly a Supreme Winner — an outstanding and well co-ordinated result.”

As well as the Supreme Award, the facility also took out the category win for the Industrial Project Award, and the Value Award for a project over $15 million.

Registered Master Builders chief executive David Kelly says this project embodies the end-to-end teamwork and collaboration that goes into creating New Zealand’s top commercial buildings.

“What a fantastic project to acknowledge in our sixth year of the Awards. These awards celebrate the contribution of the entire project team and their collaboration when building the quality environments where we all live, work, and play,” Mr Kelly says.

“This project was managed through Building Information Modelling (BIM), which is a collaboration and management software used to forge partnerships, embed innovation and ensure efficiency.

“This year, we saw more than 25% of entrants use BIM to manage their projects, and it’s fantastic to celebrate these projects and see the Supreme Winner leading the way.

“Celebrating the winners of this years’ Commercial Project Awards, and the innovative approaches they have used, is a great way to share our learnings and innovations to move our industry forward,” Mr Kelly says.

Over the past six years, the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards have celebrated the best quality commercial builds around the country, with projects in Dunedin, Whangarei, Wellington, Auckland, Queenstown, and now Christchurch taking out the Supreme Award.

Other 2018 winners around the country included Maori Television in Auckland, which won Gold and category awards in the Commercial Fit Out category as well as the Value Award $2m – $5m; Manaaki By Mercy in Dunedin, which won Gold and category awards for the Altus Health Project; the He Tohu Exhibition in Wellington, which won Gold and category awards for the Civic Project; and Rydges Restaurant and Bar Refurbishment in Queenstown, which received a Gold award and category win in the Retail Project category.

Registered Master Builders’ New Zealand Commercial Project Awards are sponsored by PlaceMakers, Altus, GIB, Allied Concrete, Construction Marketing Services and CARTERS.

Readers can view full results and comments on pages 8-14 of this issue of Building Today, and at www.commercialprojectawards.co.nz.

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