NZ Urban Development news from the media | 21 May | Major investment brings rapid transit to Airport a step closer

Major investment brings rapid transit to Airport a step closer

Auckland Transport has awarded the contract for the upgrade of the Puhinui Rail Station Interchange to the McConnell Dowell-Built Environs Joint Venture.

Phil Twyford said the Government understands Aucklanders need better transport, and any Aucklander with access to the rail network will have a fast and convenient 10 minute bus connection to the airport.

“One of the first tasks I asked the Transport Agency to take on when we came into government was rapid public transport from Puhinui station to the airport.

“It will be a bus service to begin with and in the future, it will become part of a rapid transit route connecting to Manukau and Botany with a dedicated busway or possibly light rail.

“The contract being awarded means we are another step closer to rapid transit to the airport.

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/major-investment-brings-rapid-transit-airport-step-closer

First modular hotel in New Zealand nears completion in central Christchurch

New Zealand's first modular hotel will be finished next month, bringing a 12-year journey by its owners to a conclusion.

The 80-room hotel, at the corner of Colombo and Salisbury streets in central Christchurch, will be run as the Arden Hotel by operators Golden Grand Trading.

The hotel has been built using 17 metre-long double room and corridor modules made in a factory in Vietnam. The modules included all fixtures, fittings and furniture, right down to bathrooms and painting.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/112680864/first-modular-hotel-in-new-zealand-nears-completion-in-central-christchurch

Wellington's PwC Centre scoops the sought-after award for supreme commercial project

Wellington's PwC Centre has scooped the coveted top prize of Supreme Commercial Project of the year 2019 for its world-leading base isolation design at the annual New Zealand Commercial Project Awards.

Buildings as diverse as Christchurch's new library and its restored Rose Chapel, a toilet block in Ashburton, the five-level PwC Centre, a huge cardboard factory in Waikato and South Auckland's new The Gardens School have been judged some of New Zealand's best commercial projects for 2019.

At a gala dinner in Auckland on Friday, the awards, owned and run by the Registered Master Builders Association, showcased and celebrated the talent and skill of the New Zealand construction industry, which has been overshadowed in the past year with building company collapses and industry struggles.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/112712761/wellingtons-pwc-centre-scoops-the-soughtafter-award-for-supreme-commercial-project

Bunnings' cheap flat pack homes are getting popular

Bunnings has quietly been building flat pack homes under its Clever Living brand that are becoming increasingly popular for first home buyers, a builder says.

Kāpiti Coast builder Simon Hinds said he had built 21 flat pack homes over the past 18 months, including baches and first homes for people living on the Kapiti Coast, Wellington and Masterton.

Bunnings has sold 50 flat pack houses in the past year. The flat pack homes can be designed and built off-site, then transported to the location or home delivered as a kitset and built on-site by a registered builder.

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/112793079/bunnings-cheap-flat-pack-homes-are-getting-popular