The opening of the Mount Cook Alpine Salmon factory in Timaru last month was a significant moment regionally, not only stimulating new investment in the region, but in time creating up to 40 jobs.

It almost didn’t happen.

Chris Broadhead, from ChrisBroadhead Construction, explains, “When Mount Cook Alpine Salmon came to us we were aware that they didn’t need just another a commercial building, they needed a complete end-to-end solution. Otherwise they would have just extended their factory in Christchurch. So the answer that we came up with was not just a competitive build, but a complete package that filled their needs on a both a commercial and financial level.”

ChrisBroadhead Construction was able to put together a team involving designers, construction, planners and finance. They also had to find the appropriate piece of land, purchase of the land, apply for subdivision, and structure a finance deal for land and building suitable for the tenant.

“And that was before constructing the building,” Chris Broadhead says.

Chris says this type of project suits his company as they take a unique perspective on the value of a commercial building.

 “Lets face it, no one actually needs a commercial building. What they need is the economic return derived from the building. This is something that we intimately understand, and it drives us to not only come up with end to end solutions, but also to see if we can deliver through innovation a finished building that increases the economic benefit derived from the build.

What is he talking about?

“For example with the Mount Cook Alpine Salmon factory we looked at the standard industry coving and thought that we could come up with a more efficient solution.”

The new coving system that Chris Broadhead Construction designed has been described by industry experts as both innovatory and ground-breaking.

Julian Roy, Special Projects Manager for Bondor NZ Ltd, New Zealand's leading manufacturer of insulated panels, says that the new coving design by ChrisBroadhead Construction is revolutionary and quite a big step up from where the industry has been traditionally.

"The precast nib with the cove built in is a brilliant concept that I have not seen before in my 15 years in the industry.  It will speed up construction, and the quality of finish will be amazing.  It certainly is a cost saver and time saver in the construction period, and overcomes the inherent weaknesses in the traditional systems,” he says.

“In my dealings with ChrisBroadhead Construction, they have certainly shown an innovative quality to their work. They have the ability to assess where they are in a project, where they want to go and look at the best way of getting there,” Julian says. 

Geoff Matthews, CEO of Mt Cook Alpine Salmon says this new coving brought significant operational advantages to them.

“In fact the whole solution ChrisBroadhead Construction came up with was not only competitive, but it was a total package,” Geoff Matthews says.

"This was a significant undertaking and the team at ChrisBroadhead Construction showed determination and focus to get us to South Canterbury. Without that drive, determination and big picture thinking, we would probably have ended up extending the existing factory we have in Christchurch.”

“The new factory for Mount Cook Alpine Salmon is a great example of how innovative design and construction can help maximize return on investment of a commercial building,” Geoff Matthews says.

Chris Broadhead is first to point out however that great finished buildings are the result every single input.

“This building, and the economic benefit it will deliver to the region, wouldn’t have been possible without the great subcontractors that we had, who delivered the building both on time and to budget,” he says.

Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon CEO Geoff Matthews, says the Broadhead Construction Group’s ability to totally understand their company’s needs and present a complete end-to-end solution was directly responsible in attracting the company to Timaru.

“The solution Chris Broadhead Building came up with was not only competitive, but it was a complete end-to-end solution, that brought significant advantages to us,” Geoff Matthews says.

"Broadhead Construction was able to put together a team involving designers, construction, planners and finance, that could not only build us the factory we wanted, but find us the appropriate piece of land, purchase the land, subdivide it, and present to us a suitable finance package for both the land and the finished building.”

"This was a significant undertaking and the team at Broadhead Construction Group showed determination and focus to get us to South Canterbury. Without that drive, determination and big picture thinking, we would probably have ended up extending the existing factory we have in Christchurch.”

When designing the new Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon factory, the Broadhead Construction team came up with a new coving design (see section 5) that reduces costs and construction time, and will save Mt. Cook Alpine Salmon in ongoing maintenance and downtime, as well as extending the life of the factory. It is also easier for the customer to operate.

Broadhead Construction came up with the new design, not through nessesity, but by purely examining how they could improve the construction methods beyond the accepted industry standard.

HOW GOOD IS THE NEW DESIGN?

Julian Roy, Special Projects Manager for Bondor NZ Ltd, New Zealand's leading manufacturer of insulated panels says that the new coving designed by Broadhead Construction is revolutionary and quite a big step up from where the industry has been traditionally.

"The precast nib with the cove built in is a brilliant concept, and I have not seen it before in my 15 years in the industry.  It will speed up construction, and the quality of finish will be amazing.  It certainly is a cost saver and time saver in the construction period, and overcomes the inherent weaknesses in the traditional systems,” he says.

“In my dealings with Broadhead Construction, they have certainly shown an innovative quality to their work, they have the ability to assess where they are in a project, where they want to go and look at the best way of getting there,” Julian says.