Working on the foundations of our home of democracy

Future Accommodation Project Director Dave Wills and Future Accommodation Project Procurement Lead Tania Cleary, of the Parliamentary Service at the supplier day held at Parliament earlier this year.

Early engagement with suppliers has been key for Parliamentary Service in their latest building project.

The organisation is creating 3 buildings behind the Beehive and Parliament House.

The Museum St building will house around 600 people across 5 floors. It will be a mass timber building, where large, solid wooden panels are engineered to be the primary structural material in place of steel or concrete. The Ballantrae Place building will be a secure deliveries building which will increase overall security for this important precinct. There will also be a services building.

Earlier this year, an event was held at Parliament for suppliers to find out about the project and what was needed before tenders for future works went out to market.

Future Accommodation Project Procurement Lead Tania Cleary said talking to suppliers early was a great way to engage with the market, and would encourage other agencies to do the same.

“We decided to engage early to share information and generate interest in our work, so suppliers understood better who we are, how we work, and when to expect tenders to be released to market. We also wanted to gain a better understanding of our market and suppliers. The event helped all parties.”

Upcoming procurement projects included various sized packages of work, for professional services, construction works and furniture, fixtures, and fittings.

“We’ve had several suppliers reach out to say they found the event interesting. We’ve since released an advanced notice on GETS for one of our projects and we’ve had a higher than usual number of users subscribe to the notice, which is a really positive outcome.”

Parliamentary Service has a phased approach that allows critical projects to be delivered, subject to funding, over the next 10 years.

Future Accommodation Project Director Dave Wills said the building project was about achieving value and that success would come in a variety of ways.

“Parliament has outgrown its available spaces and so what we create has to be fit for purpose. Our brief is to deliver the best economic value, increased efficiency, increased safety and security for all who access Parliament, or use its systems. We want to see a cultural partnership where we collaborate with mana whenua. We want it to be environmentally sustainable.”

The finished project should bring increased resilience for the complex, he said.

“We want to reduce the impact of an emergency or disaster through resilient design, by incorporating low damage design principles, and providing a high level of seismic resilience.

“What we build has to work for New Zealanders now and in the future.”