Omanu Rescue Centre

Omanu Rescue Centre

In the past, tough decisions were made within earshot of distressed family members and the media, and emergency services and lifeguards had to meet in car parks or on the beach itself to make rescue plans.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s Eastern Region (which spans from the Coromandel down to Gisborne) is the busiest in the country so when government funding became available for shovel-ready projects post-COVID, it was the perfect opportunity for Omanu Beach Charitable Trust to build a dedicated rescue centre away from the beach and public view.

NZCCL owner Bevan Wood is a qualified lifeguard and long-term member of the Omanu Surf Club. So Trustee Ian Glover phoned him up one Sunday evening and presented an immense challenge – design and price a new rescue building within a matter of days in order to meet the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s (MBIE) tight application deadline.

“I knew he’d be keen on this project and that he could do it,” Ian explains. “He produced the concept drawings by the end of that week and I knew he would back it up with the budget documents we needed.”

Bevan designed an eye-catching two storied building (760m² per level) across a 1500m² site on Golf Rd, just a few blocks back from the beach. It features pre-cast timber pattern concrete tilt panels, metal cladding and aluminum joinery, and is extremely low maintenance.

It had to meet Omanu Surf Club’s storage needs, Surf Life Saving NZ’s administration and rescue co-ordination needs, plus cater for Mount Maunganui’s Bridge Club whose old building had previously occupied part of the site. The Bridge Club now tenants one third of the building and their membership has grown 15% – bucking national trends – thanks to the outstanding new facility.

As Project Manager for the rescue centre build, Ian was very impressed with Bevan’s building philosophy plus his abilities as a quantity surveyor, and the skill of the NZCCL team.

“They give very good value for money for their customers and work hard to save people money. When you pick a builder you’ve got to have a lot of trust in them. Bevan, because of his expertise, was able to deliver what everyone wanted and still keep to our $3.7 million budget.”

Severe supply chain issues created another challenge that NZCCL had to overcome.

“We were building during the worst possible time thanks to COVID. You couldn’t buy timber at one point in time. NZCCL changed to metal framing because Bevan had a contact, and still kept things on budget. Any other builder would have said ‘sorry mate, you’ve got to spend another $50,000 on your framing’. They’re bloody good.”

Ian says several Surf Life Saving New Zealand staff, who hold Wellington-based roles, now choose to live in Mount Maunganui and work out of the new building instead which is testament to the quality of NZCCL’s design and build.

Jacinda Ardern (who was Prime Minister at the time) officially opened the new rescue centre in October 2022 and the building has since been cited by MBIE as one of its most successful projects.

In addition to beach or maritime rescues, the facility will be used in civil emergencies such as earthquakes or flooding. The dedicated communications room was put to the test during Cyclone Gabrielle in early 2023. “Hawke’s Bay was getting absolutely hammered so police took over the building for 24 hours while they assessed the situation,” Ian says.

“This building has become quite important and is being used for way more than we originally thought it would. It’s great to have a central base and somewhere people can shut themselves away, knowing they’re not being overheard, so they can make good decisions.”

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