At the Property Council New Zealand Awards 2026, there were several Beca projects that drew acclaim from the judges – including the Supreme Award winner. Mareanui at 90 Devonport Road in Tauranga won the Supreme Award as well as Excellence and Best in Category in the Sustainable Building and Commercial Office categories.
Mareanui, 90 Devonport Road, Tauranga
Owner: Property Income Fund
Developer: Willis Bond
Construction: LT McGuinness
Architect: Warren and Mahoney
Structural engineer: Dunning Thornton Consultants
Service/mechanical/fire engineer: Beca
Building enclosure engineer: Mott MacDonald
Quantity surveyor: Rider Levett Bucknall
Project manager: Willis Bond
Mareanui is an eight-storey hybrid mass-timber building where most steel and concrete has been replaced by locally sourced timber. It is New Zealand’s largest mass timber office building; is 6-star Green Star certified and is targeting a five star NABERS rating as well as Net Zero Carbon certification and WELL accreditation.
The use of timber cuts the building’s all-of-life carbon footprint by more than 60% compared to conventional builds. It also means a much lighter structure, which was crucial given the challenging ground conditions.
The building is fully electric, delivering an estimated 70 per cent reduction in operational carbon, supported by thermal wheel ventilation and water-efficient design with rainwater harvesting to halve potable water demand.
With a timber structure comes some interesting fire engineering challenges, which the Beca team took care of along with all building services engineering; sustainability including Green Star certification; parametric façade and building performance modelling; climate adaptation planning and life cycle analysis; passive fire; specialist lighting; traffic advisory; environmental advisory; tenancy advice; security and risk; and structural peer review services.
Beca also worked with Tauranga City Council on the fit-out alongside project architects Warren and Mahoney. The building has brought more than 850 Tauranga City Council staff under one roof, strengthening collaboration and service delivery.
“This landmark development is the largest of its kind and sets a new benchmark for sustainability and innovation in construction. Beca teams from across New Zealand worked together to bring this project to life. The strong collaborative culture across the whole project team was a key factor to success,” Beca Senior Technical Director Building Services Lindon Jackson says.
New Zealand International Convention Centre (NZICC), 101 Hobson Street, Auckland
Owner/developer: SkyCity Entertainment Group
Construction: Fletcher Construction Company
Architect: Warren and Mahoney, Moller Architects, Woods Bagot
Structural/service/mechanical engineer: Beca
Building enclosure engineer: Mott MacDonald
Quantity surveyor: Rider Levett Bucknall
Project manager: Beca
Fire engineer: NDY
Acoustic engineer: Marshall Day Acoustics
The Property Industry Awards ceremony was held at the New Zealand International Convention Centre, where the NZICC also received an award. The Centre won the Tourism and Leisure category, with the judges saying they were impressed by NZICC’s scale, flexibility and national significance.
Beca provided project management, civil and structural engineering, building services and pedestrian modelling services to the 85,000m2 project - one of the largest building projects undertaken since the Sky Tower was constructed in 1997.
“Major projects of this kind are rarely simple. The NZICC has come through extraordinary complexity, including the 2019 fire, to deliver a facility that will support Auckland and New Zealand for decades. That persistence is part of the project’s story,” Chief Judge Andy Evans says.
“The NZICC is unique in the New Zealand context. Our team drew on our international experience of delivering facilities of this scale. We also worked on the adjoining Horizon Hotel. The combined development revitalises this part of the city, not to mention the international and domestic visitors that the NZICC draws to Auckland through the large events it hosts. It has been a hugely exciting project to be part of,” Beca Senior Principal Project Director Geoff Wicks says.
Notable among the Excellence Awards given on the night were Beca House – Te Paeroa o te Kawau (Beca’s new Auckland headquarters) in the Sustainable Building and Commercial Office categories, along with Te Iho Bowen House in Wellington. These are both Beca projects which Beca worked on alongside Precinct. Beca was also part of the project team for Te Kura Rau Iti, which won Excellence in the Education category.
Read more about the Property Industry Award winners here.