When completed, the retail complex will be home to a Subway, Classic Bakehouse, Noodle Canteen and Carls Junior Hamburger outlet along with a revamped Super Liquor franchise.
Nick Whittaker, one of three Focus company directors says the project went smoothly from inception. “Our company has the capacity to manage projects of this nature well. We tend to specialise in the commercial sector and can draw on the expertise and experience of our skilled staff across all the construction disciplines.”
The $2.7 million project involved initially shifting a massive amount of unanticipated fill before the tilt-slab formed structure could be built on top.
Site Foreman James Noad explains, “About a third of the spoil had to be excavated and removed before we could start construction, so the dump trucks were pretty busy in the early stages of this job.”
Focus Construction Group consists of four distinct companies, covering key aspects of commercial construction, interior fitouts, remediation and reinstatement requirements. While each of the four companies operates independently there is a high level of integration of each divison’s core services enabling the company to undertake multi-faceted projects with seamless planning.
The New Zealand owned and operated company has grown rapidly since its incorporation in 1999, says Managing Director Barry Plumpton. “We’re very aware of our growth to the size we’re operating at now. It means we have to be razor sharp on our internal processes and very concious of keeping our quality standards high. We have a loyal client base who provide repeat business so it’s crucial we continue to deliver on their expectations and keep up the ‘no hassles’ construction experience we’re known for”.
Through an experienced and highly capable team of 60 office and site based staff, Focus works very closely with their clients to deliver their architectural visions. In this instance Focus was working very closely with Marc Peterson of BSW Architects throughout. The company stands by its name, with a focus on quality, from a project’s inception through to completion.
For Nick, seeing the end result of a build the company has controlled essentially from end to end is the most satisfying part of his busy job.
“Our clients rely on us to manage and co-ordinate an incredible amount of detail during a project build. At its peak we would have had up to 40 sub-contractors working on the Wiri Trust site along with our own staff. It’s our job to ensure everything happens efficiently and on time so we have happy faces all round when the keys are handed over.”
With a construction client base including the likes of Westpac and the Ministry of Education, the firm is used to operating in occupied spaces where staff and customers (or children and teachers in the case of the MOE) are an extremley important consideration, both in terms of noise as well as health and safety.
And when it comes to health and safety, Focus’s record is no accident. A site specific Health & Safety Plan is completed for each building site and all subcontractors undergo an H&S induction, where special emphasis is placed on identifying specific hazards. If a building site presents special challenges, the services of an independent H&S Management Consultant are brought in. This dedication to workplace Health and Safety has seen the company proudly achieve a zero injury standard on 99% of its projects to date.
As well as offering clients their construction capabilities, the team at Focus have a suite of interior products including their own partitioning systems and the patented Spanline door system. And as the exclusive distributor of the Netfloor product in New Zealand, Focus are also experts at making data cables invisible with this clever component based raised flooring system.
When asked what advice he’d give to anyone undertaking a construction project anytime soon, Plumpton responds quickly, “That’s an easy one. Successful builds require Focus.”