2015 RANZ Roofing Excellence Award
Wanaka-based David Strudwick is the winner of the 2015 Roofing Association of New Zealand’s Roofing Excellence Award, recognising high achievement in the industry.
David received this prestigious award at the Roofing Association’s annual conference, held in Wellington at Te Papa in June.
His 21 year journey in roofing began in Napier as a 19 year - old, from where he progressed to Australia for a few years before settling in Wanaka, joining Calder Stewart Roofing to work on more complex contracts, learning much from visiting European craftsmen.
“My aim is always to stand back at the end of a job and make people wonder how it was done,” says David, commenting on some of the difficult and challenging roofing installations his company has performed.
David, who is 39, co-owns About Roofing Ltd, formed in 2007, and is proud of the company’s reputation for the quality roofing they perform – predominantly in the high-end residential market.
“I really enjoy learning and am always trying to improve my skills”, says David whose prize included the unique Stuart Thomson created trophy with a framed Roofing Excellence Award Certificate along with a prize package valued at $3500.
His innovative approach has proved important when it comes to solving intricate details and David has worked hard to pass his knowledge onto his employees including seven specialist tradesmen and four apprentices.
Barry Condon, of Sarah Scott Architects Ltd worked with David on the new $1.9m Holy Family Church in Wanaka, a complex design with significant challenges for any roofing contractor. He said David provided excellent advice on the complex roofs which were a vital part of the design and this project received a Regional Award from the NZIA for Public Architecture, About Roofing’s workmanship, quality and finish playing a large part in this.
Unusually this year, there was such a close finish between two of the entries for the Excellence Award that a runner-up prize was required and was awarded to Mike Burgess, project manager for Architectural Metalformers Ltd, Auckland.