Autex Warehouse

The vision for this project was to create a modern manufacturing warehouse that also told a story. Autex wanted to include energy efficient aspects that reflected the innovative environmentally friendly products they produce. Autex were moving a key part of their business away from an existing, congested urban site, to a purpose built warehouse. That warehouse needed to; meet their new manufacturing needs, include solar power and EV chargers, be future proofed, allow for separate unit titles and allow for multi-purpose use.

Autex specialises in the design and manufacturing of polyester insulation and interior acoustic products. They wanted to operate using the most energy efficient process possible as they are dedicated to sustainable manufacturing. Greenstone Group came on board after the Resource Consent and started the developed design in November 2017. Construction started in June 2018.

The warehouse site proposed was undeveloped old farming land that needed complete redevelopment. This lead to various challenges throughout this project, including; discovery of an underground spring, ground water works required remediation and neighbouring school relationship challenges due to the Unitary Plan change of rural zone to light industrial.

Our team actively mitigated these ground remediation risks and facilitated early access for delivery of plant machinery in shipping containers. Throughout the process our communication with the client was exceptional and we added value by carrying out an Early Contractor Involvement agreement with a tightly negotiated Design and Build contract. The success of this transformation was through the quality of our stakeholder relationships and overcoming complicated negotiations that were required throughout the process.

The key outcome for this project is that there is a more succinct operation for Autex and they are able to tell the sustainable story they were looking for. The new warehouse provides an economic production where raw materials get manufactured and distributed from the one warehouse and the whole process is in one location. Logistically they have tightened their processes and incorporated economic aspects to the site to make it environmentally friendly. Our full project and development management responsibilities included; design consultant engagement/concept/ developed/detailed design, building consent, contract negotiations, contract management and contractor negotiations at close-out. The site now has a 4,500m2 manufacturing warehouse with two x 500m2 offices. Through the management of this project, we have built a strong relationship with Autex that has to lead to further projects.