Manukau Police Station Design Team

Tony Martin led the project team which involved the full range of BDC services – architects, civil, building services and structural engineers, planning and landscape designers. The project started life in 2004 with a brief and a budget that was somewhat ‘mis-aligned’.
The concept plan was very well received by the Counties Manukau Police, and priced by the QS at around $23million. The decision was then made not to apply to Government for more funding as the advice given was that no further funding would be made available in an Election year. We subsequently were commissioned to re-design to a $13million fixed budget.
Not only did the Opus team respond to the challenge of a re-design, but also had to adjust to a ‘fast-track’ procurement process in order to absorb the 3-months that had been lost by the version 1 design process.
Not all hurdles were yet passed. Several months into the documentation phase we were then asked to ‘value-engineer’ a further $1million out of the building budget, so that we could add the underground tunnel that links the Police Station to the adjacent Manukau District Court.
The final result was a state-of-art Police facility for Counties Manukau Police that opened on time and on budget. The feedback from the client has been very positive. The Police Project Director stated that it was one of the best and enjoyable projects he had been involved with, during his time at NZ Police.
The whole team responded well to each and every challenge that came before us.  During the design period a number of innovative ‘green building’ initiatives were implemented. As a result of this the project received the 2007 Govt3 award for Sustainable Building Projects.
All disciplines worked well together, the key being an ability to meet regularly and agree design detail and timeframes.
This project has been featured in the magazine ArchitectureNZ and is often referred to by our client as a working model for other Police Facilities projects. The measure of Opus success was clearly illustrated by our ability to negotiate our fee uncontested for the current Stage 2 section of this project – the Counties Manukau District Headquarters building.

Whangarei District Council Slip Repair Team

This is an excellent example of using shared resources to provide a very successful outcome for the client. The team of Manu Burkhardt-Macrae (Project Manager), Barry Cure (Client Manager) and Greg Bailey had top technical support from Glyn East, Aaron George and Jack Huang and their team in Auckland, as well as the committed support of the wider team including the laboratory, the survey team, and the CAD draughting team. 
In 2007 the Whangarei District was hit by 2 extreme weather events.  The result was a large programme of 70 slip repairs for the District Council. 
Manu put in place a simple and effective overall reporting format that keeps the client well informed of progress.  We continue to get unsolicited great feedback on Opus’ good progress from the WDC staff.  The quantity and the technical content is providing very rewarding work for our staff.

Accident Compensation Commission National Structural Housing Team

Modifications Team working for the ACC, the team led by Dallas Bates (right) from our Hamilton office, has demonstrated outstanding teamwork in the inception and delivery of this extremely challenging project, delivering housing modifications for people who have been disadvantaged and disabled as a result of accidents.  While the team took significant satisfaction in achieving such results, they were under considerable pressure both from very tight time frames as well as dealing with the obvious emotions of such a project.  The project team has overcome the difficulties of establishing a national framework to meet the needs of a demanding client. This has required a very close working relationship across offices within New Zealand, as well as a close relationship between Property Services and Architecture teams. This has been supported by strong relationships with external consultants as well as working with the client as a key member of the team.  This an excellent achievement by the team, congratulations to everyone involved for an outstanding effort.

Thames Coromandel District Council Eastern Seaboard Team

The performance of the TCDC Eastern Seaboard team led by John Crawford (right) from our Hamilton office on this project has been outstanding. Involving the upgrading of sewage treatment at three separate townships along the eastern seaboard, the team worked under considerable pressure to deliver the project on time and to a very high standard. This involved drawing on a team from Paeroa, Hamilton, Wellington, Auckland and Tauranga and involved a wide range of disciplines and skills including environmental, survey, geotechnical, mechanical, electrical, property services, and with support from the finance team.   The Team received a commendation from Gordon Reynolds and the very high regard he has for John Crawford and his team. This result would not have occurred without the very high standard of teamwork displayed by all concerned.

Rotorua District Council NMM, New Zealand

The Team led by Raj Sumeran provides excellent service to the Council with its ongoing expertise, commitment, dedication and timeliness delivered consistently week in and week out. The team, which is made up of focussed, quiet, and modest achievers, is well managed, respected, and valued. The team has not stood still in its client servicing and last year implemented several new innovations to improve the quality of its deliverables. These have also had the very positive benefit of reducing Opus’ own costs for providing the service.