Firth contributes to new Fletcher Building campus

Fletcher Building has been a part of the Penrose landscape in Auckland, in varying forms, for the last 80 years, undertaking a major redevelopment of its 2.2 hectare head office at 790-816 Great South Road in the past two years. The Penrose Campus Redevelopment project has included the rejuvenation, reconfiguration and transformation of the site to create a dynamic, modern and unified ‘campus’ for the company’s Auckland-based teams.

As the main contractor the Fletcher Construction Company was responsible for delivering the 13,200m² floor area redevelopment project with the help and input of other Fletcher Building businesses such as Firth, who supplied the Certified Concrete®, Grey Masonry, Firth’s Holland paving in ‘Milford Sound’ with a Bush Hammered finish and a 19mm standard concrete mix coloured by Dricon ‘Mist’ oxide, polished by Polished Concrete Ltd, to create a beautiful polished concrete floor for the Link building. 

The key focus of the upgrade was to build a new central pavilion that would connect and convert the four existing standalone structures into a single, integrated complex. The original seven storey Fletcher Building House has been the recipient of new lifts and new windows on the north and east facades and, along with the other existing buildings, has had a substantial interior office refurbishment including new ceilings, lighting, electrical, mechanical services and new meeting rooms. The new pavilion features a new reception area, cafe and commercial kitchen.  The pavilion, along with JSH, Fletcher House, the Link, and Rebar buildings all now contain multiple well-appointed meeting rooms, most with AV connections, sound proofing, adjustable lighting and video conferencing capabilities.

Working on a major redevelopment of an operating site accommodating around 500 Fletcher Building employees, a number which would eventually increase to 1300, was not an easy task for the project team. “It was quite a complicated project in that undertaking the renovation of the existing structures and the construction of the new pavilion and Link building, in and around people, while trying not to disrupt business as usual for them, plus managing the expiration of leases and the coordination of people moving in, took great communication, planning and patience,” explains Brad Monaghan, Project Manager for Fletcher Construction (Building Interiors). “The Link building was complicated due to the small footprint we had to work in, existing critical communication services to work around, the remains of old foundations from previous structures and the requirement for seismic separation from the adjoining Fletcher House and Rebar buildings. There was also restricted access and the installation of the new lifts to negotiate - all while trying to allow the Fletcher Building teams to continue to operate.”

Brad approached Firth to table the idea of showcasing their products in the redevelopment – an opportunity Firth jumped at which enabled an ‘up spec’ on some of what was originally specified by the architects. “Originally the floor in the link was to be a basic polished concrete floor but I spoke to Bernice Cumming, Firth’s Architectural Manager, about the opportunity to create a bit of a feature by using an aggregate mix, coloured by a black oxide, to create a highly polished section of floor. It was a good opportunity for Firth to showcase one of their products.”

“It has been a great project to see through to fruition as it has brought all of the Fletcher Building teams home to one place,” adds Brad. “This campus has reduced our Auckland footprint, it’s a modern and welcoming place for clients to visit and a nice modern environment for Fletcher Building staff to come to. We are now also seeing the benefit of being able to work collaboratively with other businesses in the Fletcher Building family.”

Fletcher Building is one of Australasia’s largest manufacturers and distributers of building products with annual revenues of over $8.4 billion and nearly 19,000 employees around the world.  The Fletcher Building group of companies includes: The Fletcher Construction Company, New Zealand’s largest construction company; Golden Bay Cement, Firth, Humes, Mico, Winstone Aggregates, IPLEX and PlaceMakers.