News

The Queenstown branch of Amalgamated Builders Ltd (ABL) is delighted to have been awarded the contract to build the eagerly-awaited Shotover Primary School. 

ABL previously built the re-located Wanaka Primary School, a project which last year won silver in the education category of the New Zealand Commercial Project Awards. 

ABL Project Manager / Quantity Surveyor Karsten Pedersen said the company was always pleased to be awarded any major contract.

“However it’s the function of this building and the role it will play in the education of generations of local children that makes this project especially important and rewarding for our team to be involved with,” he said. 

Mr Pedersen said the ABL team had had already started work with the school’s Ministry-appointed Project Manager and would be on site from Monday (May 5).

He said Amalgamated Builders would also meet the school’s establishment board of trustees and new Principal Ben Witheford “as soon as possible”. 

Shotover Primary School will cater for Years 1 – 8 and is being built on a site at Stalker Road, Lower Shotover, Queenstown. The initial construction stage will accommodate 460 students and comprises five learning communities, an administration and library building, and a multi-sports hall.

The school is targeting to be open for the 2015 new school year, and further development of the school is anticipated in the coming years. 

The new school will be a modern 21st century facility which embraces the Ministry of Education’s Modern Learning Environment philosophy. The ministry has expressed a desire for a truly unique design which reflects the communities’ values, is sympathetic to the surrounding area and will stand the test of time.

The school is being constructed to have a certified 5-star built rating from the NZ Green Building Council.