MIT/Hawkins Construction celebrate Manukau Campus Roof Shout

28 January 2014

MIT, Auckland Transport & Hawkins Construction celebrate Manukau Campus Roof Shout

Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), Auckland Transport (AT) and Hawkins Construction are celebrating a major milestone in the construction of MIT’s flagship Manukau Campus and AT’s Transport Interchange.

Less than 12 months after construction ground to a halt in the wake of Mainzeal’s collapse, the roof is now on the $95M building

The campus development was the largest project on Mainzeal’s books and was only half complete when the company went into receivership on 6 February 2013.

Less than one year on, the construction sector has made a full recovery and is picked by many to be a stand out contributor to New Zealand’s ‘rock star’ economy.

The Manukau Tertiary Campus is located at Hayman Park, and is being constructed above Auckland Transport’s operational Manukau Station.

MIT and AT in conjunction with building partner Hawkins Construction are confident the campus will be completed by semester two, 2014.

Once operational, up to 5,000 students and 120 staff will utilise the facility, primarily from MIT’s Faculty of Business and Information Technology.

The campus will also house commercial tenancies and a small number of retail outlets, a 250 seat performance theatre and an Auckland Transport ticketing office.

MIT Chief Executive Dr Peter Brothers says, “This is a symbolic day marking the fact that we have reached a significant milestone in the construction of this building.”

“The purpose of MIT is to get people into great jobs. We’re an educational institution that focuses on getting people into the job they want and that’s what this new building is going to be about,” he says.

“This hasn’t been the easiest job but we have continued to work past those obstacles and are very pleased with the outcomes achieved as a result of the hard work and perseverance put into this project.”

AT Public Transport Projects Director Nick Seymour says, “This is a truly fantastic achievement and our staff and passengers are looking forward to the completion of the station and Campus building.

“When the campus building and station entrance are complete the Manukau station is projected to be in the top three busiest stations on the Auckland rail network, surpassed only by the Britomart and Newmarket stations,” he says.

Hawkins Construction Executive General Manager Dan Ashby says, “The project stakeholders have encountered some significant difficulties with events that unfolded. The way the stakeholders have dealt with some very difficult circumstances is the mark of character of everybody involved in the project.”

“After hitting that road block, MIT and Auckland Transport were confident enough to pick this project back up and put their trust in Hawkins and our partners to deliver a great product,” he says.

“We’ve done our best to fulfil that trust but without the confidence being placed in us initially, it couldn’t have happened.”

ENDS

© Scoop Media