| 87 T T Hugh de Lacy A business built across generations Lund Joinery is as well known for its commercial fit-outs as for its timber engineering, with its joinery featured in bars, cafes, shops and commercial premises throughout the South Island. JOINERY Lund Joinery An 1875 immigrant from Denmark, Walter Lund, first established the building and joinery company that has become synonymous with the South Island industry in the intervening 150 years, and today it is cementing its reputation with engineered timber elements replacing concrete and steel in commercial and residential construction. Based in Timaru, the company now known as LJT Ltd was re-formed by Walter’s son Charles, then passed through three more generations into its present ownership by Walter’s great-great-grandson Jamie. With a staff of 12, Jamie has steered the company into solid timber construction, especially high- performance timber windows, but also prefabricated timber posts, beams and trusses. The company is still producing joinery other than windows, but has a growing interest in offering Meccano-style timber construction packs that are fitted together on-site, greatly speeding up construction time. “Our first stage is producing the design for manufacture and assembly, where we work through the methodology then produce a computer model of the building and, once it’s been approved by all parties, we arrange for the procurement of the materials,” Jamie Macgregor says. “Depending on the client’s requirements, we either source the materials through local suppliers, or import specific species from overseas when required. We have even arranged for existing marine piles to be specifically milled for customers. “These are then processed into the new building’s structural elements, and trucked to the building site as a pack. This is an aspect of our business that is growing steadily as builders and designers begin to realise the benefits of using engineered timber products.” Lund Joinery is as well known for its commercial fit-outs as for its timber engineering, with its joinery featured in bars, cafes, shops and commercial premises throughout the South Island. “The only thing constraining us from marketing further afield is the cost of getting materials across Cook Strait,” Jamie says. Lunds Joinery works out of a 1600sqm warehouse on a two-hectare site, which also serves as storage and as home to several other businesses. In 1956, the company was re-incorporated as C Lund and Son by Charles’ son Ray, building on his father’s reputation, and in the 1960s it passed on to Ray’s son Bruce, whose daughter Joanne and her husband Andrew Macgregor took over in 1993. Their son Jamie bought the company five years ago and runs it from a Christchurch office formerly occupied by Joanne and Andrew. A civil engineer, Jamie has introduced new technology to LJT Ltd, including 3D drafting and CNC machining. Lunds Joinery still welcomes smaller joinery projects, occasionally using the museum-quality old multi-faceted machines that Charles introduced so long ago. “We’ve kept the old machines and also retained the skills that are needed to operate them, and they give us a unique capacity, something that we’re particularly proud of,” Jamie says. “Despite the recent downturn we’ve been happy to have invested a lot of time and effort in the last few years in new technology and developing markets, and that has paid off well.” ALSO SUPPLIERS OF A WIDE RANGE OF QUALITY WEATHERBOARDS, PROFILES AND MOULDINGS No. 1 Suppliers of : Posts • Poles • Piles • Farm Buildings Small Buildings • Dog Motels Concrete Troughs • Building Supplies Wooden Gates • Fencing Supplies 0800 4 posts (0800 476 787) www.greatsouthern.net.nz LUNDS JOINERY TIMBER WINDOWS & DOORS CABINETRY & FITOUT TIMBER STRUCTURES ljt.co.nz | 03 688 9149 | operations@ljt.co.nz
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