Wynyard Central is comprised of three building types sharing a common basement that takes up the full site footprint. Collectively, the apartments, townhouses, and pavilions provide 113 residences.

This project represented LT McGuinness’ first Auckland project, with a team needing to be assembled and a sub-contractor network to be established. Neither being easy to achieve in a heated market. Aaron was tasked with doing exactly that and to deliver a project of significant scale and complexity. It was a big responsibility for the company’s second Auckland employee.

Outside of the considerable task of building the construction team and supply-chain, Aaron was also presented with several project challenges. An early issue to be resolved was how to clean and seal the contaminated land, while excavating and undertaking stabilising works for a basement that took up the full site. The solution proposed by Aaron and his team was the largest New Zealand application of the soil stabilisation method, Mudcrete.

While the project is commercial in scale, it is a residential development. As such, the level of quality and finish required needs to match that anticipated by a home owner.

In order to deliver on those expectations, Aaron implemented a multi-stage QA programme and instigated the prototyping of items and components of work, including the early completion of an apartment interior. Prototyping allowed the project team to agree on a benchmark finish against which future work could be assessed to ensure the maintenance of consistent quality. Setting-up the joiner in the basement allowed for speed of supply and a close connection to the final product.

The judges saw this as a story of literally one man and a ute, building a team from scratch to deliver a large complex building to a very high standard. It was a very impressive performance.