Kia Ora,
The end of the year is fast approaching. I just wanted to send out a huge THANKS to all our clients, suppliers, staff and those who have supported us this year. It’s been a very big and eventful one – and our successes will only continue into the new year.
We’re booked to hit the ground running in 2023, with a huge amount of mahi lined up for the team. We can’t wait to work with you all, and here’s to the future of timber!
Our team is taking a well earned holiday from the 22nd December, returning on the 10th of January.
Make sure you have a fantastic break and recharge over the holiday season.
Meri Kirihimete,
Brett
Te Puna Waiora Clubhouse
The Te Puna Waiora Clubhouse left us last month – the pre-assembled trusses were craned into place when they arrived on-site in Kerikeri.
This collaborative project with Arvida, Structus, Ignite Architects and others is under construction as we speak.
Hear from Porchia Hendricks from Arvida group on the project so far…
“When we began the design, we basically went to 2 glulam suppliers, had a meeting with Roy from Techlam, and a meeting with the other guys. What we discovered is that we had previously completed 3 other projects with the other engineered timber suppliers.
I had an interview with the structural engineer, and they were really reluctant to work with Techlam, as they hadn’t worked with you before and were concerned you might not have the experience for it.
So between my TQS & Ignite Architects, we sat down and looked at both proposals, I had a meeting with Roy and his design team. Roy said to me, “Porshia, I’m going to lock it in right now” and he kept his promise and delivered. I said to my TQS, you know what, I’m glad I followed my gut and chose Techlam. ”
So we locked it in and haven’t had any issues with Techlam. A few up-front teething issues with the construction team, because it isn’t easy in the Auckland region to build a building like this. It had the potential to be really tough for us – but I spoke to the site manager in charge today, and he basically told me he hasn’t had any hassles with you guys. From the day he handed it over to you for the shop drawing process, he said it’s been a pleasure to work with Techlam.
Arvida Construction team are our own internal team and are the ones working onsite.
Onsite, they hired a hiab and a small crane, and the coordination process and delivery went really smoothly. We’re really keen to get your team to the site once the glulam trusses are in place early next year. They’re planning to start the clubhouse on the 9th of January, and we’re aiming for an opening date in December 2023.
In terms of challenges, the only thing we had to work around were the bracing sections in the clubhouse as we had to source that from another company. But Roy sorted it, and it’s on its way – a very minor issue.
We were all very happy, and I’ve recommended you guys to my development team. I’m going to give Roy & Techlam the opportunity to do another clubhouse for us in Te Awamutu.
Thank you so much, and we’ll definitely work together in 2023.”
The future of Techlam
You’ve been part of our 30-year journey – so what’s ahead?
Straight from the horse’s mouth! Hear from our Founder, Andrew Hamilton, about what we’ve got coming up…
So, Andrew, how does it feel to have reached our 30-year milestone?
“It’s very rewarding… looking back, there’s a lot of people that have helped us get to where we are today. All I can do is appreciate the team we have now and do my best to ensure we keep moving forward and making progress. Small changes every day have got us to where we are today.”
What’s your main focus as the founder of Techlam to ensure we keep moving forward?
“Our main focus is to continue bringing people together. Both staff members and communities. That’s what we do, laminate. Laminating takes things that are weak and binds them together to make a strong superior product. Our team have a great culture – we work closely together to build and deliver products to help make communities stronger. So yeah, our main focus is definitely people – both internal and external.”
What does the future of Techlam look like to you in 2023 and beyond?
“Well, there’s already a lot going on here that’s going to take us well beyond 2023, that’s for sure. Our sustainable manufacturing project is in the works right now, we’ve got new machinery turning up, and that’s going to keep coming. We are continually improving our capabilities and creating more streamlined processes to help us get more product out the door.
Not only that, but the upcoming projects in the next year or so are looking pretty exciting. I can’t wait to see them up and running.
Further down the line, we’ll be looking at some new innovative products that we’ve been researching, so overall, a very exciting future for Techlam.”
We’ve had a lot of messages on social media etc, congratulating us on our recent birthday – anything to say to those awesome followers?
“Yeah – cheers! Without you, I don’t know what we’d be doing. Huge thanks for supporting us along our journey. We look forward to bringing you with us for the next 30!”
Jackson Orchards Packhouse
The new Jackson Orchard Packhouse is now 90% operational. This project features some lovely curved portal frames we’ve had the pleasure of manufacturing.
We spoke to Huw from Calder Stewart about how the project has gone so far…
“It’s been a good experience working on this project with Techlam.
The client wanted timber right from the very start to align with the old structure that we also constructed 30 years ago. The new structure is pretty similar and will be joined to the existing packhouse.
We had a meeting with the Architect last week, and they were very impressed. The client also wants to add a viewing platform so he can take tours through their operation. The Jackson Orchard focuses a lot on tourism and offers tours of the whole orchard and processing facility. They haven’t quite worked out how that will be done yet, that’s the next step once we connect the new and the old building which we’re working on now.
I haven’t worked a lot with glulam before, this was probably my third job using it. We did do some work on Mitre 10 Wanaka with glulam, but that was a different type of project.
Seeing how it came together on site, was a new experience for me. We had a huge load of the glulam portals delivered to site, they were unloaded by crane and we laid them out before lifting them into place.
When we laid the rafters out, with timber being a natural product there was a bit of variation, but once we installed them, they were fine. The beams ‘relaxed’ once they were in place and now they align well at the apex. We lifted the first portal and propped it. We used an endless chain at the apex coming back both ways to support the apex of the portal and then we had a prop on each side of each leg, which worked well.
Once it was up, we coated the portals with a clear polyurethane, and it looks great. Another thing that really adds to the space is the Solatube lighting. It brings in the natural light, and makes the timber look cool. It really warms up the space.
The client is only using 90 % of it at the moment as we’re using one end while we’re joining the 2 buildings together. It would be good to get Techlam onsite for the opening down here next year.”
