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from the Fletcher archives
Time saving measures help offset the proliferation of codes
The innovation on engineers, architects and practical people working in the commercial building industry will produce the new construction techniques of the 1980s and beyond, just as they have in the first 80 years for this century.
But the continuing development of new and more sophisticated building materials and further upgrading of building codes will also play an important role.
So will the continued methodical, cost-conscious management demanded for commercial projects in today’s environment of soaring costs - the computer will make bigger contribution in this area, too.
This from two people who should know: Fletcher Development and Construction Limited Wellington regional construction manager, Mr Tony Higson; and the retired chairman and managing director of its forebear, The Fletcher Construction Company Limited, Mr Joe Craig.
Mr Higson’s involvement in today’s construction scene convinces him there will be continuing pressure to produce more economic buildings. Seventy-three year-old Mr Craig, who spent more than 50 years in the industry until he finally retired from the company in 1972, says there has been a permanent place in it only for those companies circumstances and prepared to perform. They both agree that among the most significant developments in building methods in the 1920s has been the continued growth in sophistication of concrete techniques, particularly pre casting and post stressing.…
Time saving measures help offset the proliferation of codes concrete components manufacture. It’s simple enough to include reinforcing wires if pre-stressing is required, or to leave a void for post-stressing.
These time saving measures help to off-set the effects of a proliferation of building code in today’s structures, particularly in earthquake and fire safety.
The massive amounts of steel reinforcing and partition jointing obviously add to the building costs.
And the press for better fire safety has led to the virtual disappearance of conventional timber partitioning in most high rise buildings. Metal studs, insulation and special fire resistant wall linings have replaced them. Traditional brickwork is now also becoming a rarity.
Of course, there were other problems in 1934 when 26-year old Joe Craig became project manager of the new 500,000 pound Wellington Railway Station - at that stage the biggest single building contract ever let in New Zealand. They were days of brick and plaster and the massive steel framed Railway Station, which includes a six storey office block as well as platforms and various public facilities, has plenty of both.
Its brick facade still draws admiring glances from visitors to Wellington, who are also reminded of another era of construction by its ornate archways and arched plaster ceilings. Yet even then, pre-casting was in use. Mr Craig remembers that all 1,313 piles were pre-cast on site.
The whole Railway Station project was completed in three years, which even by today’s standards is good going. "The difference between then and now is that buildings have grown taller as suitable prime land has become more scarce and it has been important to make the best of the sites available," says Joe Craig.
“Perhaps ultimately we won’t be able to build as high or to the same high standards as previously because of growing economic restraints,� says Tony Higson.
“The economic pressure put on the rest of the world by the oil crisis is almost certain to bring this into question and as a result more new building techniques are bound to be devised be innovative architects, engineers and practical people who work inside and outside the industry.�
The two Wellington construction men both believe that to streamline techniques and cope with the continuing need to carefully control costs, the computer will play an increasing role as will the trends to more professionalism in construction company managements. “Nevertheless, there will always be scope for skilled tradesmen to enter the industry and work up to the most senior management positions,� Mr Higson said.
Winning War Time Work
Commercial memorabilia from World War II has recently been donated to the Fletcher Archive through a circuitous route: Peter McKay, a retired QS who worked for one of the original professional Quantity Surveying firms in New Zealand, J A Stewart & Partners, held a copy of this Master Schedule which he loaned to Peter Kingston, a retired QS of Kingston & Partners, Quantity Surveyors (and, incidentally, the son of the late Stan Kingston who was General Manager of Vulcan Works of The Fetcher Steel & Engineering Companies Ltd back in the 1950s). Peter Kingston then loaned the copy to Jim Espie, Fletcher’s first South Pacific branch manager in Western Samoa 1948. It wasn’t until the 22nd April 2009 that the original document was gifted and transferred to the Archives by Peter Kingston.
The Master Schedule was the pricing mechanism that was applied to all Defence contracts in the Auckland District during the Second World War - when such work was under the direction of the Commissioner of Defence Construction, James Fletcher (Snr).
This contracting system was adopted under the Commissioner of Defence Construction in agreement with the Master Builders Association. The schedule lists the instructions for fixing contract prices for work under the Commissioner of Defence Construction.
In total there are 34 pages: listing items, prices, rates for painting jobs, equipment etc, with various loose papers inserted featuring handwritten notes. Both sides of some of the pages have notations.
The roots of enduring business success
Fletcher, a firm synonymous with big business, can trace its origins to a nailbag and a 12 pound bank deposit! These sundry items were all the worldly goods of a young Scottish carpenter, James Fletcher who arrived in Dunedin in 1909.
Born at Kirkintilloch near Glasgow in 1886, James was a fifth generation stonemason-builder. It had been his intention to emigrate to Canada, but after hearing a visiting temperance preacher extolling the virtues of the New Zealand climate, he decided to make it Dunedin instead. Dunedin was a stone city with Scottish traditions, and he found his familiarity with the art of stonemasonry and his Scots accent valuable assets. Within a week he had a job with Crawford and Watson, a firm of building contractors in Moray Place. Here James met a fellow carpenter, Albert Morris, with whom he later combined to form the independent firm of Fletcher and Morris. Their initial project was a cottage on Portabello Road which they built for Broad Bay storekeeper Hubert Green. It was the first wooden house that Fletcher had built, it took him hours to complete and it made only 3/6 profit but it was a start. Orders for the other beach houses came in, followed by requests for buildings of a more substantial nature.
Fletcher and Morris had successfully tendered to build the St Kilda Town Hall when they were joined by James’ elder brother William who came out of Scotland bringing with him an injection of capital. William was an experienced stone mason as well as contractor and with his advent the fledgling company extended both its scope and its name. Under the new name of Fletcher Bros and Morris, they began work on the main dormitory block and the Ross Chapel of Knox College.
By 1912 Fletcher Brothers and Morris had a capital of over £5000 and were growing fast—too fast for Albert Morris who found their £2000 bank debt a cause for concern. He sold his share of the partnership and went his separate ways. Far from going broke, Fletcher Brothers as they were now called, continued to consolidate their position by undertaking a series of major building projects in a matter of months. By the end of the First World War, many old Dunedin firms had begun opening branches in other parts of the country. Where Fletcher Brothers had built the original offices, they had a little difficulty in gaining contracts for the new premises.
In 1916, a fourth brother, John, came out from Scotland to join the team. Four years later, James and his family moved to Wellington, leaving John in charge at the Dunedin end. The choice of Dunedin as a venue for the 1925 New Zealand and South Seas Exhibition was reminder to the country that the city was still enterprising and energetic. The site and buildings were constructed jointly by Fletchers and Love Brothers of Port Chalmers.
The extent of the operation brought James Fletcher back to Dunedin where he built a sizable residence in High Street for himself and family. The return of Fletcher to his beginnings was short-lived, as at that point the company was offered a major contract at the University of Auckland. The City of Sails was booming, and James saw advantages in having a stronger presence in the north. At the close of the exhibition, he and the company moved to Auckland, leaving Love Brothers of Port Chalmers to take over their Dunedin contacts.
In the seventy years since then Fletcher Holdings have become New Zealand’s largest construction company and one of the country’s biggest industrial organisations with activities as diverse as deer, forestry, petroleum and rental cars. While the population drift to the north has made it inevitable that the concern had remained Auckland based, it still regards itself as a Dunedin firm and has continued to have strong manufacturing and building links with the southern city. 1981 Fletcher Holdings and Tasman Pulp and Paper Company merged with Challenge Corporation (formerly the old Dunedin firms of Wright-Stevenson and N.M.A.) to form Fletcher Challenge Ltd.