106 | BUILDING Adams Building and Construction T T Hugh de Lacy Strong relationships hold the key Matiu himself got a start in the industry with a carpentry apprenticeship with Construction Craft that he completed in 2010. “Landmark’s Taranaki franchise holder Scott Vile offered labour-only contracts for start-to-finish new-home builds, and we built some pretty nice houses for them.” Money is not the main driver for Matiu Adams and his Adams Building and Construction company in New Plymouth: he’s more concerned with building a strong business, strong people and a client-first approach. And it has led to the New Plymouth native’s company becoming a fully private operation just five years after he established it with precisely that goal in mind. Adams Building and Construction tackles any building work that comes its way, but lately the company has evolved a mutually beneficial arrangement with architect Brad Rapley of Delaco Architecture that sees them directing work each other’s way. “It’s all about word-of-mouth recommendations, which is what got us both where we are today. Brad’s originally from Christchurch, but moved to New Plymouth and set up his own firm,” Matiu says. Matiu himself got a start in the industry with a carpentry apprenticeship with Construction Craft that he completed in 2010 with Albon Building. He left that same year for the compulsory OE – in Sydney – where he worked for three years before coming back to New Zealand and the same job, staying there for four more years. He then decided it was time to set up his own company, and Adams Building and Construction was formed in 2018. The business was launched following a phone call from an architect that did a lot of work for his old boss, and who then told Matiu about the opportunities with the nationwide house-and-land package company Landmark Homes, which covers the country with 24 franchises. “Landmark’s Taranaki franchise holder Scott Vile offered labour-only contracts for start-tofinish new-home builds, and we built some pretty nice houses for them,” Matiu says. “Then when Covid came around I got offered a couple of houses to build privately, and the company picked up from there. “My attitude is that we don’t need to make all the money in the world: it’s far more important to be able to develop a solid relationship with the staff, and be in a position to offer options for our clients when they want something different. “There’s only a certain amount of money you can spend, and I still run around in my old 2010 Toyota Hi-Lux. It never stops running, so why should I replace it?” Among the projects Matiu and his staff of two have completed was a four-bedroom, two-storey house in Strandon, New Plymouth, with a roof deck that made it virtually three storeys, and a footprint of just 90sqm for a floor area of 200sqm – a timber-framed passive home clad in New Zealand-grown redwood timber. The last months of last year saw a sharp increase in building demand in Taranaki, and Matiu expects to double his staff numbers to four this year in response. “We had a couple of casual guys last year, but as the workload picked up we saw the need for more permanents, and we’ve an apprentice, essential to the business, lined up to start about now,” he says. KEY SERVICES Residential renovations New builds Commercial maintenance Commercial projects Solar Heat Pumps Industrial maintenance Industrial projects KEY CONTACTS Jarrad Martin, Managing Director | 021 490 781 | jarrad@radiantenergysolutions.co.nz Rawiri McClutchie, Director | 027 555 0384 | rawiri@radiantebergysolutions.co.nz Lynley Martin, O ce manager | 027 466 9055 | o ce@radiantenergysolutions.co.nz
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