84 | Kalmar Construction T T Kelly Deeks A major player in the aged care sector Kalmar Construction is building a two-storey aged care facility with 65 care suites. LIFESTYLE Award-winning Auckland building company Kalmar Construction is becoming a major player in the aged care and retirement sector, with the skills, experience, and resources to successfully complete large scale projects. As part of an expansion to Metlifecare’s Oakridge Villas retirement village in Kerikeri, Kalmar Construction is building a two-storey aged care facility with 65 care suites, cafe, commercial kitchen, and hair salon. Kalmar Construction has already worked on a number of Metlifecare projects in Auckland, but this particular project was awarded through Kalmar Construction’s involvement in the NZ Construction Alliance (NZCA), a nationwide partnership of regional commercial construction companies who provide nationwide services through local delivery. NZCA’s Northland contractor, Trigg Construction, wasn’t available for this project so Metlifecare chose its trusted partner Kalmar Construction to come up from Auckland and start on site on January 10. “The products that are compliant with Green Star’s requirements generally have longer lead times, and are being shipped out of the major centres instead of being available from the local merchants.” Kalmar Construction project manager Dillon Taylor says this presented the construction team with one of its first challenges - working outside of Auckland and around materials and labour availability in Kerikeri. “We just had to plan things a lot further in advance,” he says. “We’ve got a mix of subcontractors on site, some from Auckland who we’ve worked with in the past and some local contractors who were capable of a project of this scale. We are also sharing this site with Metlifecare’s local civil contractor who is preparing platforms for additional villas, and all together we have established cooperative and collaborative working relationships.” The Oakridge care centre is on track to achieve its targeted Green Star 6 certification and some of the materials specified aren’t typical off-the-shelf products. “The products that are compliant with Green Star’s requirements generally have longer lead times, and are being shipped out of the major centres instead of being available from the local merchants. This is where our planning in advance has allowed us to keep this project moving along, and we’re still on track for completion in June 2024.” The two-storey structure is made from structural steel, load bearing timber framing, and cross laminated timber flooring and walls. Kalmar Construction needs to roof the building in good time, getting it enclosed and weathertight to ensure the timber components aren’t exposed for too long. In a first for Kalmar Construction, the care suites in this building are being fitted out with prefabricated bathroom pods from SYNC Industries in Melbourne. The pods have all been placed in their respective suites and the Kalmar team is looking forward to getting them installed and connected. Kalmar Construction is working next to Oakridge’s existing villas and their residents, so an open line of communication has been established to keep the community updated on developments and what to expect to see and hear from the site next door. The tower crane which came up from Auckland for the installation of the cross laminated timber flooring and walls was a rare sight for Kerikeri and brought a lot of interest and questions from locals, even making it on to the community Facebook page a couple of times. “We’re keeping in touch with the Village next door and our other neighbours and we think we’ve kept them relatively happy so far,” Dillon says. “They are all keen to see the care centre completed so they can enjoy the use of it, just as we are keen to successfully complete another project for Metlifecare.” Niki Bohlmann | M: 021 288 2448 | E: nik@coatritecontractors.co.nz Your trusted partner in Intumescent coatings, protective coatings and passive fire solutions
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