The versatile team at Blair Cunningham Construction has a broad range of experience and capabilities allowing the company to take on all kinds of complex and challenging projects.
After more than two decades in the industry, Blair and his wife Kate have evolved their business through the changing demands of the construction industry in the past 20 years.
Blair trained in Southland then moved to Christchurch prior to spending seven years building in Australia and Ireland.
Once back home, Blair Cunningham Construction took on a variety of projects, including some ongoing commercial projects. “When the global financial crisis hit, that work stopped overnight,” Blair says.
“It was about the same time as the dairy boom began, and we spent the next four to five years building high quality dairy sheds. “Then the earthquakes hit at about the same time the dairy industry was slowing down.
“There were less dairy conversions happening and more earthquake repairs and rebuilds to do, so we started on that full on after 2011.”
After completing a couple of high end repair projects, it soon led to high-end architectural new builds, extensions, and renovations, which comprise the bulk of the company’s work today.
“We didn’t plan to get into architectural homes, we just made sure we protected our brand and our reputation by delivering high quality work,” Blair says.
“The best thing about building architecturally designed homes is the creative process that goes behind it, working with the architects, the interior designers, and the client to come up with a fantastic result and a beautiful space. It’s not about the money, sometimes the margin can be smaller on high end architectural homes.”
During Christchurch’s earthquake recovery, Blair Cunningham Construction also invested in some plant to increase its own efficiencies with the ability to provide more services to its customers from in-house.
“We operate an eight ton tipping truck with a 3.5 ton Yanmar digger with auger which allows us to do a lot of our own earthworks,” Blair says.
High-end architectural new builds, extensions, and renovations comprise the bulk of Blair Cunningham Construction’s work.
“During the height of the earthquake work we couldn’t get a subcontractor when we needed one for a little bit of digging. “Now we can park our digger on site so its there when we need it.”
Blair Cunningham Construction has also invested in a track-driven mini crawler crane with 2.9 ton lifting capacity and 9m boom.
Its ease of transportation and quick set up allows for an efficient and cost effective service, and while highly useful in rural and commercial applications, the crane has come into its own with the amount of structural steel now being used in residential construction.
Blair credits his business’s adaptability to his having worked in a rural environment. “I did my apprenticeship with a country builder who had an engineering workshop,” he says.
“We had to do anything and everything. One day we’d be building a house, the next day a wool shed or a covered yard.
“We build bridges and culverts and all sorts of stuff. That’s enabled us to be able to adapt to anything.”
This article was brought to you in association with the following businesses…
- Blair Cunningham Construction
- Bates Joinery
- MRA Tiling Limited
- Elite Interior Plastering Limited
- Ashton Garage Doors
- Delta Electrical Services
