88 | A.D. Bridge and Sons Builders T T Rosa Watson Old-fashioned values at the heart A recent renovation was a 1970’s house with single glazing, aluminium joinery with Pinex ceilings, a typical home of its age. BUILDING For Nelson-based construction firm A. D. Bridge and Sons Builders, old-fashioned values and skills are at the heart of what they do. The firm is a small family business owned and operated by Nicole and Darryl Bridge that has been operating for 12 years. “We’re very family based. We operate our office ourselves from home with a couple of kids around,” says Nicole. Before moving to New Zealand 20 years ago, Darryl was a carpenter back in England, where he completed a carpentry and joinery apprenticeship. After a few years, he went to work with his bricklayer father, Anthony, who had his own building business, A. D. Bridge Building Ltd. For Darryl, naming the firm A. D. Bridge was a nod to his father. “I’m very old-fashioned with certain things, and I just thought naming the business after him would be a nice thing to do – a bit of a tribute,” he says. “He didn’t know, but he was chuffed when I sent him the business cards.” The firm specialises in renovations and commercial work, with some new builds thrown in as well. “There’s not much we don’t do,” Nicole says. They employ a team of three with a highly experienced foreman. They also have regular contract workers. The firm recently completed work for Nelson-based waste collection providers Can Plan, extending the warehouse and offices at its Nelson premises. “It was relatively complex due to the nature of the site,” says Darryl. “It’s the main depot, so they’ve got a lot of vehicle movements coming and going.” The firm has also completed a number of Ministry of Education (MOE) renovation projects. “Over the last five years we’ve completed numerous renovations on over 20 schools in the Top of the South district,” Darryl says. “These have ranged from small remedial TRINDER ARE YOUR SOLUTIONS FOCUSED AND LEADING ENGINEERING PARTNER. Proudl y prov iding eng ineer ing suppor t to A D Br idge and Sons s ince 2016 PH. 544 8024 www. t r inder. co . nz ken robinson architects ltd 4c bronte st nelson 7010 new zealand p h 6 4 3 5 4 8 4 6 1 4 m 0 2 1 1 8 5 3 1 4 2 e ken@krarchitects.co.nz Premium Aluminium Windows and Doors 2 Braeburn Lane, Nelson 03 547 0562 | info@insitenelson.co.nz www.insitenelson.co.nz • RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL • ARCHITECTURAL AD Bridge & Sons Builders Insite are proud supporters of work through to projects well over seven figures.” This included weather-tightness work and re-roofing at several local schools. “They involved encapsulated scaffolding to secure the building’s weather-tightness whilst the roofing works were carried out. There were many restrictions due to the fact that these were schools with children in them.” They also had to contend with noise and vehicle movements during the school day. At a Richmond school, the team re-fitted and refurbished the main administration area, creating several new work areas for the staff, and also built an extension to give the principal a new office looking out on to the main playing field. At a country school in the Motueka Valley they have refurbished several classrooms, and also built an architecturally designed changing facility for the school pool. Nicole says winning MOE contracts was becoming more challenging, with larger firms tendering for contracts in this area of work, where they were not a few years ago. A recent renovation was a 1970s’ house with single glazing, aluminium joinery with Pinex ceilings, a typical home of its age. The team modernised the internal space with clean lines, polished plywood timber panelling, and created a larger family bathroom by reconfiguring the previous space to a more modern and practical environment. All new double-glazed windows and joinery were installed and a modern outdoor living space created with a deck and garden area. They also replaced old concrete roofing tiles with six-rib FlaxPod Colorsteel.
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