Dawson House

Our role was Construction Contractor/Project Partner and member of the design-and-build team that included the client and designers on this Design and Construct contract with early contractor involvement (ECI).

The project entailed the construction of a two storey, 3,100 square-metre office block, Dawson House, made from vertical panels of pre-cast concrete and glass. It also involved a high-level integrated office fitout - a requirement that ran in parallel to the main building works.

The client/developer wanted to create efficient accommodation that would support a collaborative environment for government tenants including the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Children - Oranga Tamariki, Housing New Zealand, and the Ministry of Education. We collaborated with several different government stakeholders to complete the office fit-out for the government tenants within the same build time as the main construction project.

The fast-tracked ECI project brought together the owner/developer, contractor and consultant teams including ICL Construction and Jackson Architects. Throughout design stages from late 2015, we compiled detailed estimates for the developer and consultants and provided updated costing as changes occurred. This included setting up and managing subcontract packages (e.g. for specialist demolition activities) that matched design workstreams to pricing packages, or target outturn costs. Our early involvement in the contract, and our performance during the construction phase contributed to final construction costs being $50,000 less than the targeted budget.

Construction began on a three-stage consenting process as agreed with the local building consent authority, New Plymouth District Council. This phase included the demolition of four separate buildings - including a former metal-pressing factory - and construction of the office building.

We completed competitive tendering and subcontractor award recommendation reports to the client and project team, cost analysis, and recommended milestones for each stage. Construction began with demolition work in February 2016 and was completed in July 2017 - a month before the building opened to the public. The carpark’s construction was extended by one month due to unforeseen contaminated subsoil materials - remnants from a past building. This was not a critical part of the build and our work in collaboration with WorkSafe to resolve the issue safely did not delay the tenants’ business.

This project secured a Silver award in the 2019 New Zealand Commerical Project Awards.