100 | Work ongoing despite downturn JC Builders is currently working on is a development in a prime area of Gore’s town centre in Irk Street JC Builders T T Russell Fredric BUILDING Gore firm JC Builders, familiar to many under its former name Jones & Cooper Builders, has weathered the tough building economy of the past 18 months better than some. Director Peter Cooper attributes this to the company’s many long-standing relationships with its commercial and private clients, and the diversity of work it undertakes in the wider region, both large and small scale. “We’ve got some really good clients. We didn’t find it too bad to be honest. We’ve come down from a bit of a high, but it’s still been a better year than many have had. “We’re a bit insulated [from the building downturn] here, and until March this year, the financial year, we probably had three-quarters of the year full before we started. We don’t have the highs and lows so much here, and a lot of the projects are incubating for 12 months before they happen.” Among the projects JC Builders is currently working on is a development in a prime area of Gore’s town centre in Irk Street. The company was approached by a prospective tenant looking for office premises to lease, and JC Builders was subsequently able to purchase a suitable vacant section to develop for the tenant. “We do a bit of leasing back if we get the right tenants; we’ve done probably a dozen of them in the past,” Peter says. The building is a reasonably straightforward design incorporating cedar cladding for street appeal, and will provide 400sqm of groundfloor space. “We’re providing the base build and the complete fit-out as well.” For the past 18 months, JC Builders has been involved in a much larger-scale and more technical series of projects at South Otago High School for the Ministry of Education, with a total cost of around $2.8 million. JC Builders director Neil Bone says the tendered work was divided into four areas of the school, initially starting on what was dubbed ‘learning support modifications for accessibility’, comprising replacing existing ramps and stairs, and also refurbishing the school’s D block. “We’ve installed a lift in the two-storey D block, and widened doorways in various blocks across the school. We started there in August 2023 and we are probably going to be finishing around July-August this year. “Work on the eight-classroom block was split into two stages to allow half of the classrooms to continue to be used, and included the lift, new entry doors to the classrooms, fire-rated walls to the stairwells at each end, fire-rated ceilings to the entire block on both the first and ground floors. “A variation to the contract was replacing the roof and high-level windows and exterior maintenance painting that was postponed over the years.” An unexpected challenge involved the foundation for the lift. “We dug alongside the existing foundation, and instead of being a metre in the ground as per the drawings, we had to go down to 2.3 metres. The ground outside the foundation had been back-filled and battered off so it was quite a major expense to go down to good ground. “It has been good to have this work and with the variations it was quite nice to have that guaranteed work there.” Master Painters NZ Multi-Awardee KIM McDOWALL PAINTING & DECORATING LTD Your first stop for all: • Interior & Exterior Painting • Plaster Board Stopping • Wall Papering • Fabric Hanging All Workmanship Guaranteed Kim: 027 433 6278 Tony: 027 489 3583 admin@mcdpaint.co.nz PO Box 179, Gore Member of Master Painters NZ Town or Country • Commercial & Domestic We Cover Southland, Central Otago & Fiordland proud to support Suspended Ceilings, Wall Systems & Acoustic Solutions Accredited Autex Installer tony@tonicinteriors.co.nz 53 Eye Street, Invercargill 9840 www.tonicinteriors.co.nz 027 839 3763 03 215 6221 Proudly supporting Jones & Cooper - Gore Heating & Ventilation Heat Pumps Plumbing Electrical Gas- tting Solar PV Power & Hot Water Drainlaying Our locally owned and operated store is your one stop shop for a huge range of carpet, hard flooring, and tiles as well as curtains, blinds and wallpapers. BOOK YOUR FREE MEASURE, CONSULT AND QUOTE TODAY! PROUD TOWORK WITH JONES AND COOPER BUILDING LTD GET IN TOUCH | 22 Hokonui Drive Gore | gore@flooringxtra.co.nz | 208 9535
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