Christchurch Three Years On: City Care’s new construction team scores contracts

It may not seem visible to casual observers but plenty of work has been already achieved in the Christchurch rebuild.

City Care’s building construction division has completed $20 million of work over the past year in the rebuild effort.

Other firms like Hawkins Construction and Opus have also gleaned considerable income – contracts of $6.4 million and $10.5 million respectively from contracts from the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority alone as well as other infrastructure work. 

City council-owned City Care established its building construction team just 11 months ago, comprised of experienced industry specialists, who have been involved in numerous construction projects over more than 40 years. 

Since joining the City Care brand, they have completed construction works in the health, private and public education and commercial sectors. Other work also includes seismic upgrades, damage-avoidance applications, strategic deconstruction and internal fit-outs.

City Care’s efforts to position itself at the forefront low-damage building technologies is evident at striking commercial build and fit-out project in Birmingham Drive – soon to be tenanted by Trimble Navigation New Zealand.

City Care says the Trimble building is the first structure in the world to incorporate in one building the three damage-avoidance technologies of post-tensioned rocking laminated veneer lumber frames, post-tensioned LVL rocking shear walls and timber-concrete composite floors, developed by the Structural Timber Innovation Company and University of Canterbury.

City Care offers clients a whole-of-life service, according to general manager of the building construction team, Paul Blackler.

His group offers the full gamut – from design, to project management and supply chain coordination, construction and fitout.

Following construction and fit-out, City Care rolls out its facilities management service to develop a maintenance plan to maximise performance and minimise costs for the life of the building.

Mr Blackler says this approach is the way of the future for significant building projects, “and the reconstruction of Christchurch has brought the future to town sooner rather than later.”

He says City Care will continue to tender for projects in traditional markets while also working on negotiated design and build assignments for its growing portfolio of private clients.

City Care delivers building and infrastructure construction and maintenance and facilities management services nationwide. The company is also part of the Stronger Christchurch Infrastructure Rebuild Team, the organisation rebuilding Christchurch’s earthquake-damaged roads, fresh-water, wastewater and stormwater networks.