Stadium Designers Win Supreme Award

WELLINGTON ENGINEERING FIRM BUILDS ON LOCAL SUCCESS

Holmes Consulting Group has won the Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ) Supreme Award 2001 for the structural design of WestpacTrust Stadium in Wellington. This represents welcome recognition of over 20,000 man-hours of engineering, drafting and site supervision dedicated to the project. With a simple construction philosophy and elegant functionality, the stadium is ‘engineering on show’ and testament to the company’s commitment to quality and innovation in the civil and structural engineering fields.

New Zealand’s largest specialist structural design group, Holmes Consulting add this accolade to a list that includes the Consulting Engineers Gold Award and the National Architecture Award.

Engineers of other high-profile projects such as Te Papa and the Parliament Buildings refit, the Group is involved in over NZ$500million dollars worth of building work in New Zealand each year. A wide range of public, commercial and industrial projects are undertaken including hotels, hospitals, bridges and wharves.

While maintaining a commitment to New Zealand clients, Holmes Consulting Group has developed a growing international client base, and in the last 10 years has undertaken many projects overseas. The company’s international business is now greater than that in New Zealand.

International projects include the seismic isolation of buildings and bridges in the Taiwan and Israel. Aircraft hangars are a specialty; the latest, in China, houses three Boeing 747s wing-tip to wing-tip, and uses over 7000 tonnes of structural steel.

The US market has proven successful for the Group and many significant engineering design projects have been undertaken including the Benecia-Martinez freeway bridge over San Francisco Bay. The company is currently involved in the strengthening of the Ghiardelli chocolate factory in San Francisco and the conversion of the historic Salt Lake City railway station into a major retail and entertainment complex. Both these projects utilise composites (expoxy reinforced with glass fibre) offering a sophisticated solution of high strength and unobtrusive design.

The Holmes Consulting Group employs around 100 staff in its offices in Auckland, Christchurch, Queenstown and Sydney. A further 20 staff are employed in San Francisco where the Group has recently acquired a Californian engineering design company.

The Holmes Consulting Group is committed to quality engineering services and innovation both in New Zealand and overseas. “We benchmark ourselves against our international competitors” says Chairman Bill Gordon. “The key to our success has been to continually diversify the business, offering our staff the chance to gain new skills, experience and create even more opportunities from which we all learn and benefit”.

Ends

© Scoop Media