A Night of Celebration at the 2025 Commercial Project Awards
20 May 2025
This year’s New Zealand Commercial Project Awards have once again brought together the industry’s finest to celebrate the exceptional calibre of commercial construction across the country. From ambitious sustainable designs to adaptive reuse, the 2025 entrants highlighted creative and practical ways teams navigate today’s challenges to deliver outstanding projects.
This is the second year that the NZ Commercial Project Awards have split the Supreme Award into two value-based categories, designed to better reflect the breadth of commercial construction projects delivered across Aotearoa.
We extend our warmest congratulations to all entrants and winners. Their work highlights the innovative approaches employed to navigate ongoing challenges such as rising costs, material shortages, and skilled labour constraints.
Building less, building smarter
Many of this year’s entrants embraced a 'build less' mindset - not in ambition, but in footprint. Many projects prioritised consolidation and efficiency, such as unifying previously scattered functions under one roof. The use of local materials like cross-laminated timber and laminated veneer lumber emerged as a clear trend. These sustainable materials were not just practical but also showcased as integral design features.
Maximising the potential of buildings through user-centric analysis and adaptive reuse
This year’s entrants showed a deep commitment to understanding how the building’s inhabitants operate now and in the future. Several project teams went beyond standard briefing practices, taking time to understand how people will engage with the spaces to shape more effective layouts. This user-focused approach led to smarter, more efficient spaces designed for long-term adaptability.
Adaptive reuse has also gained traction, with hybrid projects combining existing structures with new builds to deliver functional and sustainable facilities. The layering of old and new reflects both environmental responsibility and community responsiveness.
Collaboration at the core
Year on year, collaboration is a clear trend amongst entrants. Successful teams embraced a holistic approach, bringing contractors, architects, and engineers together to align on project goals, identify risks, and streamline delivery.
Early Contractor Involvement, in particular, was a popular strategic approach for mitigating risk and managing costs. By bringing construction specialists into the planning process early, design teams can test ideas against real-world construction methods, identify cost efficiencies, and adapt to material availability in real-time. It’s a more integrated, collective approach that helps ensure the design remains ambitious and buildable within budget constraints.
And the Supreme winners are...
Supreme Over $10 Million Award: The Living Pā
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Entrant: LT McGuinness Wellington
- Project Partners: 335 (Engineer), Dunning Thornton (Structural Engineer), Rider Levett Bucknall (Quantity Surveyor), Tennant Brown (Architect/Designer), The Building Intelligence Group (Project Manager)
- Owned By: Te Herenga Waka – Victoria University of Wellington
- Category: SpecAdvisor Education Project
Along with the Supreme Over $10 Million Award, LT McGuinness Wellington also took out the Commercial Project Over $25 million Value Award, the SpecAdvisor Education Project Category Award, and the Mitre 10 Environmental and Sustainable Award.
Designed to meet the world’s most rigorous environmental certification, the Living Building Challenge , the project was built with a mass timber structure and incorporates solar energy generation, vacuum toilets, blackwater treatment, and Red List-free materials. The Living Pā was also instrumental in LT McGuinness achieving Toitū net carbon-zero certification.
Supreme Under $10 Million Award: Scapegrace Distillery
- Entrant: Breen Construction
- Project Partners: Breen Construction (Project Manager), Cheshire Architects (Architect/Designer), HFC Structures Ltd (Civil Engineer), Pacific Process (Engineer)
- Owned By: Breen Construction
- Category: Industrial
Taking out both a Supreme Award and the Commercial Project $3 - $10 million Value Award, the new Scapegrace Distillery in Central Otago stands out for its meticulous blend of architectural impact with precision-engineered processing facilities. Built using laminated timber and powered by electric boilers, the structure includes future-ready infrastructure for retail and hospitality. The Breen Construction team’s strong commitment to sustainability is evident through the structure’s large overhanging eaves and natural ventilation.
A huge congratulations to all of our 2025 winners – this year’s competition showcased the industry’s commitment to sustainability, innovation, and teamwork demonstrated in our sector.
To see the full list of winners and their projects, check out the NZ Commercial Projects Awards website.