56 | CONSTRUCTION Keyway Construction Proud to support Keyway Construction 37 Villa Street, Masterton • Ph 06 377 4901 ENGINEERING SERVICES THE WAIRARAPA CAN RELY ON T T Virginia Wright Future-proofing capital’s buildings Wellington-based Keyway Construction is establishing itself as a leader in seismic strengthening and resilience. The company has mostly worked for Primeproperty Group over the last 18 years, and is still a fundamental part of their business. At the same time, Keyway Construction, along with sister company, Keyway Engineering Solutions, is open to putting their expertise and experience to work for other clients. They have longstanding and trusted relationships with the consultants and leading subcontractors they have collaborated with over the years, including on buildings like the 16-storey office building at 10 Brandon Street that was vacated after the 2016 earthquake. “Major strengthening was required, involving piling, extensive concrete, FRP and structural steel work, as well as refurbishing all the internal spaces,” says Keyway Construction’s managing director, John Fletcher. “We worked closely with the engineers and the subcontractors to find effective solutions to several complications, and were awarded Silver at the Master Builders Commercial Projects Awards in 2022.” Over the past six years, Keyway has worked closely with Miyamoto NZ Ltd, who are internationally renowned for their earthquake strengthening expertise, completing many projects, including the repair and strengthening of the James Smith car park, and strengthening a 14-storey office building at 15 Manners St. Miyamoto New Zealand, working with two other engineering firms, led the main strengthening design for the Manners St building. Keyway Construction was the main contractor and worked alongside specialist subcontractors to install the 90 viscous dampers and over 600 tons of structural steel, bringing the strengthened building to a seismic capacity of 160% NBS (New Building Standard). This project was recently selected for recognition at the 2026 SEAOC (Structural Engineers Association of California) Structural Engineering Excellence Awards. Keyway Construction and Miyamoto NZ Ltd are now working together on the intricate task of repairing and strengthening the Reading Cinema complex in Courtenay Place. “Because of my engineering background I have managed the design work with the various engineers over the years for Primeproperty. Miyamoto have done a lot of that work recently, and we can now offer design-build solutions to building owners, applying our joint knowledge and experience,” says John. Keyway and Miyamoto consider that their combined knowhow and experience could save clients both time and money, while also delivering more resilient outcomes. “It is our assessment that many building owners feel daunted by the prospect of having to strengthen their buildings and don’t know the best way of going about it.” Both companies believe they can give clients pragmatic options that will save money. Working together they can do assessments and feasibility studies that can translate into simple and pragmatic design-build solutions. “We can find out what the possible solutions are then discuss different options with the owner before they’re locked into a much bigger bill than it needs to be,” says John. Wellington still has numerous buildings deemed to require strengthening under the current legislation, and many of these
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