| 103 Tricky sites all in a day’s work Scott adopts a hands-on approach to projects – never far off the tools and making himself available to clients. T T Kim Bowden Scott Cowan Building BUILDING A rugby player, who has swapped scrums for scaffolding, is carving out a niche as one of Queenstown’s go-to builders for higher-end homes on steep, challenging sites. Scott Cowan leads an eight-strong crew, mostly tackling architectural residential builds in the $2 to $5 million bracket on the slopes above Lake Wakatipu. “These sites can be very tricky,” he says. “We’re always saying, us builders are like mountain goats.” A building platform is cut out – often by breaking into rock to create a “big shelf” on the side of a hill – before the team gets to work, managing the tricky logistics of moving heavy vehicles and materials on to the site. Scott adopts a hands-on approach to projects – never far off the tools and making himself available to clients. “I know other companies, the owner might sit down with a client for that first meeting and then there are a lot of times they won’t see that guy again on-site – they’ll just be dealing with a foreman,” he says. “But me, they’ll see me with a nail bag on. I’m there for the build, and I’m just communicating every chance I get with the client. I really pride myself on that.” Building is in Scott’s blood. His dad was a chippie, and as a kid he would tag along as porches were built, roofs replaced and fences constructed. “Every house we lived in, the old man was always chipping away at bedrooms and bathrooms,” he says. “There was a lot of early learning from him, and the big one was work ethic – he was a very hard worker.” Later, fresh out of school, Scott honed his craft in Dunedin, working alongside four experienced builders. It was there he sharpened his technical skills and saw firsthand how a well-run crew operates – foundations that now shape how he leads his own team. Lessons learned on the rugby field also influence his building game. Scott spent six years as a professional player, slipping between the Otago Highlanders and Southland Stags, before finishing with a stint in Europe. But building was something he was able to fall back on between games when needed. Rugby helped teach Scott how to build a team, read personalities, and lead from the middle of the action. “What I learned from rugby is how to work with all sorts of personalities,” he says. “In a professional rugby environment, you get chucked into a team at the start of the year, and you’ve got to make it gel. It’s the same on-site. I’ve got apprentices, labourers, qualified guys, and I can read the room a bit, juggle the personalities and get the best out of them.” He also credits rugby with giving him a mental edge: planning ahead, visualising outcomes, and staying level under pressure. “There’s a resilience that comes with sport. When things are not going well on a job, I know how to bounce back and get stuck in again.” Scott Cowan Building relies heavily on word-of-mouth referrals from architects and satisfied clients. Transform Your Space with Quality Tiling Nunes Tiling o ers professional tiling services across Central Otago. We also have a store providing a wide range of quality tiles, tools, and materials for all your tiling needs. nunestiling.co.nz 37A Barry Avenue, Cromwell EXPERTS IN ALL MASONRY WORK. M: 021 477 099 E: gwblocklayer@gmail.com Proud to support Scott Cowan Building
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