Pro Features

Cruise ships return to boost economy

Hawke’s Bay’s economy is poised for a major shot in the arm this summer with as many as 80 cruise ships set to dock at the Port of Napier after a two-year-long COVID-19 enforced hiatus. The years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak saw the cruise industry become a mainstay of the Napier and wider Hawke’s Bay economy, with local tourism building...

WoolWorks leads the way in emission reduction

Local wool scourer business WoolWorks received more than $4 million in co-funding from GIDI Fund to convert gas and coal boilers at their Awatoto (Napier) and Washdyke (near Timaru) sites to more modern and efficient hot water heat pump technology. The new hot water pump at Awatoto, which will be one of the most sophisticated and largest in New Zealand, will replace the site’s natural gas-based...

Bay Businesses step up to carbon reduction ambitions

If reducing carbon emissions wasn’t a goal for your business before 2022, it certainly will be now, since the New Zealand Government released its first Emissions Reduction Plan (ERP) in May. Hawke’s Bay has felt the impact of climate change with a severe drought in the summer of 2020/21 and then major rain events along the East Coast during our most recent summer. The drought...

Municipal Building – what will it become?

The redevelopment of the Municipal Building got underway in January 2019 and is expected to be completed in early 2022. At this stage the final make-up of what will operate in the building hasn’t been finalised, but it is certain that the Assembly Dining Hall and the Shakespeare Room will remain and it will be promoted as a commercial, community...

Engineering feats steal the show

Such a crucial role was taken up by two engineering consulting firms Holmes Consulting and local experts Strata Group with Red Steel providing 163 tonne of structural steel across the Opera House, Functions on Hastings and the Municipal Building. Holmes Consulting completed the structural designs for the Opera House and the Municipal Building, while Strata Group was the on-the-ground consulting...

What is Toitoi?

Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts and Events Centre is the new name for the centre that includes the Opera House, the Municipal Building, the Cushing Foyer and the former Plaza space is “Toitoi”. The name Toitoi, with its Māori and English components, gives an identity to the complex that conveys a sense of people, place and purpose to audiences and...

Blockbuster project delivered on time and budget

Herman Wismeyer of Focus Project Management has the huge task of ensuring the biggest and most complex project ever carried out in the Hastings CBD is delivered on time and to budget. To complicate the challenge, two of the three buildings are classed Heritage Place Category 1, having been built during World War One. “You’re dealing with heritage buildings that...

Community support drives investment into doors reopening

The redevelopment of the Opera House precinct, now called Toitoi – Hawke’s Bay Arts & Events Centre, is one of the largest construction projects council has been involved in for many years. The Opera House has played an important role in the community since 1915. It brings our people together to celebrate, to be entertained and to enjoy each other’s...

Encore for build team

Gemco Construction manager Eddie Holmes will know how good a job the team of over 100 tradespeople has done when he sits down to enjoy one of the 30-plus shows scheduled for the Hawke’s Bay Opera House stage in 2020. Eddie has been on-site in a porta-office since 2017 and when the project is fully completed with the handover of...

Arataki Honey – 75 years young

From a single swarm to over 24,000 hives, the story of Arataki Honey started when 17-year-old Percy Berry was asked by a neighbour to remove a swarm of bees. Percy then began to split and build hives in Nireaha. In 1942 he gave up farming sheep and cattle and moved with his wife and five children to Hawke’s Bay with...