A year in review – 2024

As 2024 draws to a close, we reflect on everything we’ve achieved together. This year has been a testament to our values – DO the right thing, DO own it, DO the best job, and DO create better futures. These values guide us daily and have continued to underpin the quality of our work, our culture, and our solutions.

Below are just some of our highlights for 2024.

Celebrating our people

At the heart of our achievements is our incredible team, and this year we proudly recognised some significant individual milestones. They include:

• Jacob Anderson, who became a Chartered Professional Engineer, having been assessed as meeting a quality mark of competence by Engineering New Zealand and proving his ability to tackle complex engineering problems requiring expert technical knowledge
• Matt Hurst and Liam Rees, who became Licensed Cadastral Surveyors
• Reilly Connor and Jacob Anderson, who became certified safety barrier designers
• Sophie South, who was awarded a 2024 Emerging Director Award
• Kirsten Hall, who won the New Zealand W40-44 10km running title at the National 10K Road Championship, despite torrential rain
• Marie Stephens, who qualified for the IRONMAN 70.3 World Championship in Taupo, placing her amongst the top female triathletes in the world
• Nick Fargher, who captained the New Zealand men’s dodgeball team that competed in the 2024 Dodgeball World Championships.

We also celebrated some long-standing contributions to DO, including Russell Benge, Director, who marked an impressive 30 years with us.

In addition to these achievements, our team has grown. We welcomed a number of new people across our four offices and are currently providing practical experience for seven summer students in environmental science, geotechnical engineering, structural engineering, planning, civil engineering, and surveying.

Our geotechnical team’s growth has expanded our capabilities and strengthened our offering to clients in Nelson and the West Coast. Meanwhile, in Timaru, we relocated to 12 The Terrace, providing our growing team with additional space, and we’re now preparing for renovations in 2025.

Celebrating our clients and projects

We value our clients and partners, and we’re grateful for the ongoing trust they place in us.

This year, we’ve proudly supported a diverse range of projects which not only showcase our technical expertise but are also a testament to our commitment to the South Island and our ability to resource projects of any size. They include:

• supporting Selwyn District Council with the design and delivery of two new roundabouts at Shands/Trents Road to improve traffic flow and safety
• completing the final stage of the Berryfields development in Nelson, where over 500 lots have now been titled – this development has been running continuously for the past six years, often involving multiple contracting companies working on different stages simultaneously
• securing key land use consents, including for Barkers in Geraldine and North Meadows in Washdyke
• providing structural services for projects around the South Island, including in Nelson, Marlborough Sounds, Maruia, Westport, Greymouth, Ross, Timaru, Waimate, Queenstown, and Canterbury – including seismic upgrades to the Grosvenor Hotel in Timaru and numerous buildings for the Ministry of Education
• supporting a variety of projects on the West Coast, including flood modelling, tunnel scanning, and flood protection design.

New drone capability

We believe in doing the best job, and the introduction of new drones has proven incredibly valuable to both us and our clients.

In Christchurch, our new LiDAR drone, named “Cool Dad”, has enabled us to create high-accuracy digital elevation models, even in challenging environments. Watching our clients’ excitement when they see the results for the first time has been a powerful reminder of the impact we’re making.

In Timaru, our new drone has enhanced our team’s imagery capabilities, capturing large amounts of data for use in survey and engineering design, construction monitoring, and an array of other uses, including a complex cadastral water boundary.

Contributing to our communities

We recognise the profound impact of engineering and construction on society, and we’re proud to have continued to engage in a range of initiatives to support the environment and local communities.

One such initiative is our tree-planting efforts at Taylors Mistake. For the third year running, we gathered for a tree-planting day, adding 800 native trees to the area – bringing our total to over 2,300 trees planted. Seeing how the trees we planted in previous years have grown was a reminder of the positive impact we’re having on the environment.

We also contributed to various wellbeing initiatives, including fundraising for Gumboot Friday and Daffodil Day, raising awareness for men’s mental health through Movember, and participating in Pink Shirt Day. Additionally, we supported our communities through sponsorship of local sports teams and events and by contributing to a range of initiatives.

It was also fantastic to see some of the projects we supported in 2023 being used in the community, such as the new world-class hockey turf in Timaru and the South Canterbury Mountain Bike Club’s pump track in Centennial Park and the Silvan Mountain Bike Park in Nelson.

Having fun together

While we’ve worked hard this year, we’ve also made sure to take time to celebrate, connect, and have fun together.

Our annual ski trip to Mt Hutt was a highlight for many, offering a chance to hit the slopes together before the weather turned to custard. Whether you were skiing or snowboarding for the first time or just soaking in the views, it was an awesome day out.

We also participated in the Corporate Challenge 5km, competed in The Spectacle in Nelson, and had some friendly competition between our teams in the Hunter Civil 6 Hour Blast, a relay-style mountain biking event, just to name a few.

Commitment to sustainability and health and safety

Our commitment to sustainability and health and safety has remained unwavering. We’re proud to have achieved SiteWise Gold Status for the fourth consecutive year, reflecting the high standards we continue to uphold. We also celebrated being CarbonZero certified for 10 years with Toitū, and throughout the year have been working towards becoming carbon positive.

Looking ahead to 2025

Looking ahead, we’re filled with excitement and anticipation. Here’s to another year of doing the right thing, owning it, delivering excellence, and shaping a better future – together.