Broad perspective

Overall project manager for Summerset by the Park was RDT Pacific. The company was responsible for managing all design and construction processes.

RDT Pacific director on this project Chris Ellis says the company's brief was to manage cost and programme requirements through resource and construction of the project from concept design through resource and building consent, contractor selection, contractor management and finalisation of the project.

"The project had numerous challenges along the way, as you would expect from a project of this size," says Ellis. "The biggest challenge initially was that Summerset required the design and building processes to be fast tracked. To this end, it was agreed to procure the principal contractor, Aspec Construction, early on in the piece, which effectively meant we were constructing the base foundations while still designing the rest of the building."

This approach put pressure on the project's design consultants to produce drawings in sufficient time for construction to continue uninterrupted. To achieve this, design meetings were held that included the principal contractor to ensure the team developed solutions that were appropriate to the way the contractor wanted to build them.

The result, from RDT Pacific's perspective and that of the developers, was a honed operation that combined responsive design with a tight build schedule.

For further information, contact RDT Pacific, phone (09) 379 6600. Website: www.rdtpacific.co.nz.

Story by: Trendsideas