| 117 T T Hugh de Lacy Qtown builder reaching new heights Silver Mountain Construction completes two or three new houses a year, as well as alterations and additions. Silver Mountain Construction BUILDING Growth is on the cards in 2025-26 for Queenstown builder Silver Mountain Construction as the housing industry picks up pace in response to falling interest rates. Silver Mountain Construction owner Scott Mackenzie says he’s got jobs lined up for the next two years, and he’s looking to expand his current workforce of five. “ Things have changed in the last year, from people just asking for quotes to new jobs finally coming on-stream, and at this stage we appear to have five ready to go that will keep us fully occupied for some time with our present staff,” Scott says. “That sets the stage for us to expand on the back of a buoyant Queenstown market. We’ll be on the lookout for extra staff, and already we’ve had a lot of inquiry from tradespeople in Auckland. “We have to warn them that it’s hard to find rental properties in the region – there’s been an acute shortage for years – and that puts some off, but we’re confident we’ll find staff enough for our next growth stage.” Scott himself is from Auckland where he completed his building apprenticeship with Your Builder Ltd in 2011 before setting off on the compulsory OE, first to Australia’s Gold Coast, then to Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Returning to New Zealand in 2019, he settled in Queenstown and launched Silver Mountain Construction, naming it as a reminder of his time in Canada. “I started on renovations and additions, but pretty quickly got into new-home builds and was able to crack the market for architectural homes, which is where our immediate future lies,” Scott says. He initially launched the company in partnership with his cousin, Greg Avery, but they later went their respective ways. An important ally of Scott’s in the development of his company has been long-time friend Billy Stansfield, an Auckland-based architect, who is also a qualified carpenter. Billy and Scott completed their apprenticeships alongside each other, creating the good working relationship that is essential to their projects today. Billy’s firm, Studio Billy, is building its clientele in Queenstown alongside his services to the Auckland construction industry. Silver Mountain Construction completes two or three new houses a year, but the alterations and additions niche is still a significant contributor to the workload. Typical of that sort of work was the company’s recent completion of a full renovation and addition project on a two-storey house in Arawata Terrace, Queenstown, where the entire upstairs was rebuilt and the exterior fully reclad. “We’re also close to finishing a quirky job building musterers’ huts on a site in Cromwell – little boxes that make you feel like you’re in a slice of paradise,” Scott says. “We’ve also got a big new build set for Jack’s Point, Queenstown: a 360sqm, four-bedroom house of two storeys sunk into the existing site contours. “We may need to crank up the workforce for that one because we’ve also got four other jobs, a mix of new homes and renos, lined up for 2025.” “I started on renovations and additions, but pretty quickly got into new-home builds and was able to crack the market for architectural homes, which is where our immediate future lies.” Proudly supporting Silver Mountain Construction 16 Wolter Crescent, Cromwell 03 445 0305 www.designwindows.co.nz central@designwindows.co.nz
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