Fitting out a Queenstown CBD store with recycled materials, to reflect the retailer’s philosophy on sustainability, has been a winning formula for a local builder.
AJ Saville Builder 2016 Ltd was one of three retail category gold award winners at the recent Registered Master Builders’ New Zealand Commercial Project Awards held in Wellington.
The client was outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia, whose motto is ‘earth is now our only shareholder’.
Allister Saville, whose company is best known for building high-end homes at Arrowtown’s Millbrook Resort, says shopfitting’s not his usual gig, ‘‘but we were approached to do it and take on the challenge’’.
‘‘Their statement is, ‘recycle, don’t build new if you can’, so we had to go through a bit of a process to show our values on that as well, which was a pretty cool thing.’’
Recycled materials used include reclaimed timbers from wharves and former woolshed flooring.
Saville says they partnered with Cromwell’s Masterwood Joinery — ‘‘they did a lot of the sourcing and a lot of the joinery as well’’.
Patagonia’s first NZ store also includes a ‘fly bar’ for the fly fishing fraternity.
Saville says a particular challenge fitting out the store, which fronts both Beach and Shotover Sts, was coping with pedestrian traffic and parking restrictions.
