Waitakere Central wins New Zealand Institute of Building Award

Waitakere Central, the city’s sustainable civic centre has notched up more national recognition with an award from the New Zealand Institute of Building.

John Schermbrucker, Waitakere City Council project manager, and Nick Page, the construction manager of Canam Construction Ltd, won the Holmic Projects $15million to $50million Excellence Award for their work on the project at the institute’s annual awards in Auckland.

The pair was one of five finalists in the category, taking the accolade ahead of those involved in the Meridian Building in Wellington, Queenstown Airport, the gaming floor expansion at Sky City in Auckland and the Queen Street Streetscapes in Auckland.

The judging panel described the Waitakere Central project, which combined a commercial office building, council chambers and pedestrian overhead rail link bridge in Henderson, as a “masterful and leading edge addition to Waitakere’s civic centre”.

In the delivery of this complex building project, the panel said Mr Schermbrucker and Mr Page demonstrated outstanding excellence in their collaborative process, shared vision and creative approach to the construction of the quality building.

“The civic centre showcases Waitakere’s eco city vision and features leading edge building services such as an innovative displacement ventilation system and a New Zealand first, green roof,” the panel said.

Establishing an onsite pre-casting facility that saved both money and time was just one example of how the two parties worked together to achieve alternative construction methods.

“The outstanding working relationship that developed between the Council and Canam Construction played a pivotal role in the successful outcome of this project,” said Chief Executive Officer of Waitakere City Council Vijaya Vaidyanath. “This partnership showcases how together public and private bodies can deliver world-class infrastructure.”

“As with most projects it is the quality of the people involved that dictates the outcome and this award recognises the tremendous commitment and vision of two such people.”

The award is the 12th won by the Waitakere Central project since it opened in 2006. It has been recognised for its architecture, sustainable and urban design concepts and process management.

For Mr Schermbrucker the latest award has been particularly satisfying.

“To most people what they see is a building going up, they don’t see the process management aspect to a project, which is what this award recognises.”

“The fact that we opened a building of this stature and innovation on time and budget is a testament to those processes.”

He said to work with a contractor with a shared commitment to excellence and willingness to come up with solutions to meet the specific requirements the council had, such as leading edge and sustainable design, was key to the project’s success.

The project developed a strong working relationship between the pair which sees them currently collaborating on other projects, including the now completed Trusts Stadium and grandstand.

Caption: Waitakere Central project manager John Schermbrucker of Waitakere City Council with the award of excellence he and Nick Page of Canam Construction, received from the New Zealand Institute of Building for their work on Waitakere Central.