The Construction Source Australia

Welcome to the latest issue of Construction Source Australia, the magazine that highlights the best in building and building products across the country. For this edition, we have shown our spotlight on Alroe Constructions – a next-generation luxury builder that strives to be the custom build partner of choice for developers across the Gold Coast. In particular, we’ve highlighted their work in the multi-family NDIS sector, where they have become an industry leader. Their recently award-winning work in Southport, on a luxury development featuring 10 NDSIS units, is a good example of that leadership in action. We spoke to them about that project and about some of their even more exciting projects coming up. Other industry leaders featured in this issue include Moonyah Group, ZAC Homes, and CU Building Group. Moonyah Group is an Indigenousowned business that, through its different brands, delivers a wide range of building services across Australia, including labour hire. ZAC Homes is Sydney’s chosen custom home and duplex-builder. And CU Building Group helps clients realize their dream Perth property by providing a complete property solution. All are examples of companies pushing the industry forward. For those stories – and a whole lot more like them, in this edition and future editions – just keep reading. All the best, The Editorial Team We will keep adding business units that enhance our offering and separate us from our competition. “ ” Editor From The Dear Reader,

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The Construction Source Australia Group Publisher Jermaine Poulsen General Manager Alexandra Box Operations Manager Shon Washington Production Manager Vicki Lee Head of Editorial Content Tamara Breen Scott Carter Editor Zach Janes Graphics Design Pranim Thapa With over 58,000 senior executive readers, The Construction Source Australia is proud to offer an attractive platform to share your message with the people that matter most - your customers. Whether your objective is to promote a new product, to attract financial investment or to build brand recognition, we stand ready to help. To find out more about being featured in TCS Australia, please contact our Group Publisher Jermaine Poulsen e: info@theconstructionsource.com.au The Construction Source Australia Suite 11.01, Level 11, 175 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia info@theconstructionsource.com.au ABN: 42 976 059 923

APRIL 2023 Industry INNOVATIONS Product of the Month The Kights Scanner ALROE CONSTRUCTIONS Pushing the envelope in NDIS ZAC HOMES ZAC Homes Offers Custom Designs across Sydney MOONYAH The Magic of Moonyah Tiny Homes ABOUT SPACE LIGHTING Lighting trendsetters CU BUILDING GROUP A complete property service IN THIS ISSUE APRIL 2023 MOONYAH ZAC HOMES

APRIL 2023 Aluminum expected to accelerate worldwide adoption of electric and self-driving vehicles Material takes on an ever-widening role in tomorrow’s vehicles For more than a decade, concerns about fuel efficiency have been encouraging OEMS to replace steel with aluminum on vehicle bodies, doors, trunks, hoods, bumpers, crash boxes, brakes, cables and wheels. With the advent of electric and autonomous vehicles, OEMs worldwide are discovering new uses for aluminum. The need for battery casings and heat exchangers in electric vehicles, combined with autonomous vehicles’ demands for high visibility and structural integrity, is expected to exponentially increase the use of sheet aluminum in tomorrow’s cars, trucks and buses. Supporting the transition to battery-powered vehicles Four major design challenges confront OEMs in their transition to electric vehicles. Extending vehicle range Improving battery and passenger safety Increasing passenger comfort Optimizing cooling systems for lithium-ion batteries The substitution of sheet aluminum for steel helps resolve OEM concerns. Industry INNOVATIONS

The Construction Source Australia The lighter the vehicle, the longer its range. According to Ducker Worldwide, aluminum is expected to contribute more than half of the anticipated vehicle mass reduction demanded by electric vehicles (EVs) to extend range. Ducker reports that in North America alone, aluminum content in EVs will increase to nearly 565 pounds (256 kilgrams) per vehicle by 2028. The larger the vehicle, the heavier the battery and casing required to optimize the EV’s range. It is the larger EVs, i.e., sedans, SUVs, taxis, trucks and buses, that will realize the greatest benefits from a steel-to-aluminum conversion. In the U.S., a vehicle’s gross weight determines which class of commercial driver’s license (CDL) will be required. Without lightweighting, some EVs could demand a higher-class license or additional endorsements due to the added weight of the battery. In older European cities like Brussels or London, some bridges and tunnels only allow vehicles up to 3.5 tons in weight, a target that is very difficult to meet for larger EVs without lightweighting. For heavier material transport EVs such as trucks, weight reduction enables an increased payload, providing a significant monetary benefit. Generally, the larger the vehicle, the higher the payback. Particularly relevant for larger human transport EVs such as buses and taxis, the weight reduction made possible through aluminum provides the added benefit of reduced CO2 emissions and improved air quality, of value not only to vehicle operators, but to the communities they serve. The thermal and anti-corrosion properties of aluminum make it ideal for battery frames. Sea-water resistant, highly formable, highly surfaced aluminum alloys provide the strength necessary to pass side-impact crashworthiness testing, protecting passengers and the battery should impact occur. Casing floor plates made out of aluminum are not only strong, but also capable of resisting corrosion related to weather exposure. These characteristics enable aluminum battery casings to resist weather-related deterioration and impact from road debris, minimizing the risk of related fires and further securing passenger safety. Optimizing battery and human safety Extending range Dispersing heat The batteries used in EVs produce energy while charging and decharging, requiring the use of heat exchangers to dissipate heat. But the types of heat exchangers used in vehicle air conditioning systems are inadequate to meet this new challenge. Aluminum clad brazing (which connects multiple layers of aluminum together to disperse heat) requires heating in a controlled atmosphere (e.g., a vacuum) to achieve optimum joining. Aluminum heat exchangers designed specifically to meet the challenges presented by electric vehicles can use as many as five types of aluminum sandwiched together, with the layers providing gradient properties to optimize cooling. These specialized processes and materials address OEM concerns, ensuring adequate dissipation of the heat generated by battery-powered vehicles. An experienced aluminum processing partner can help OEMs specify the right process and alloys to meet specific vehicle temperature thresholds, ideally working side by side with OEM engineers early in the design process to maximize the performance of electric vehicles. IT IS THE LARGER EVS, I.E, SEDANS, SUVS, TAXIS, TRUCKS AND BUSES, THAT WILL REALIZE THE GREATEST BENEFITS FROM A STEEL -TO-ALUMINUM CONVERSION .

APRIL 2023 The luxury sedan market will likely be the first to transition to self-driving electric vehicles. Passenger comfort and safety, and an expansive view of the surrounding environment, are expected to be top priorities for this market. The hefty B pillars used in conventional vehicles to meet structural requirements for crashworthiness are undesirable in a self-driving scenario. To enable large windows and an unobstructed view without sacrificing passenger safety, lightweight aluminum will be the strong material of choice. Supporting the eventual transition to autonomous vehicles In addition to the design challenges presented by EVs, society’s demand for sustainable solutions will likely continue to be a driver in the transition to aluminum-lightweighted vehicles. A Forschungsgesellschaft Kraftfahrwesen mbH Aachen (fka) study, using a Volkswagen Golf as its reference vehicle, determined that an electric aluminum-based vehicle could meet the same safety standards as its steelbased equivalent, while emitting 1.5 tons less greenhouse gases over its lifecycle, taking into consideration production, a total driving distance of more than 93,000 miles (150,000 kilometers) and eventual recycling. Ongoing environmental concerns Conclusion Aluminum alloys are ideally suited to the design challenges presented by electric and autonomous vehicles. By aligning with aluminum partners deeply experienced in developing processes and alloys to meet demanding performance requirements, transportation vehicle OEMs are accelerating the pace of EV and self-driving vehicle adoption throughout North America. .

The Construction Source Australia

APRIL 2023 Business World Australia

The Construction Source Australia Business Worl d Australia

Pushing the envelope in NDIS

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THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

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Alroe Constructions is a nextgeneration luxury builder that strives to be the custom build partner of choice for developers across the Gold Coast. In their early years, they focused on building high-end custom homes for individual clients, while these days they focus on luxury townhouses, low-tomid-rise apartments, as well as special needs housing funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). With each unit they deliver, however, they still provide the same quality of workmanship and attention to detail they provided for their custom homes. “We’re extremely passionate about quality,” says Matt Neilson, Sales & Marketing Director. “We won’t deliver anything we’re not proud of and prepared to stand behind. We feel like our projects are some of the best on the market.” That includes the company’s NDIS work, which comprises a growing percentage of their business. According to Matt, that’s an “extremely specialised and detailed area of construction,” and Alroe Constructions has the expertise and experience needed to excel in it. The NDIS is implemented by the government to provide funding and support for those with disabilities, as well as guidelines for those supplying services in consulting and construction. Homes funded by the NDIS are called specialist disability accommodation (SDA) dwellings, and those dwellings are provided within four separate categories: Improved Liveability; Fully Accessible; Robust; and High Physical Support. The most technicallydemanding and highlycompliant of those categories is High Physical Support – and that’s what Alroe Constructions specializes in. “Dwellings in the High Physical Support SDA design category are highly specialised builds requiring strict levels of design, certification and build compliance,” Matt explains. “They feature a high level of access provisions for people THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

with significant physical impairment requiring very high levels of support including structural provisions and access facilitation.” “They also include assistive provisions with heating, cooling and household communications technology in addition to emergency power solutions, fire mitigation and emergency lighting,” he adds. “At Alroe Constructions, we have blended our expertise in High Physical Support SDA builds to our residential tower expertise,” he says. “We are the industry leader in building NDIS towers.” That expertise is “very unique,” Matt emphasizes – which is one of the main reasons developers looking to build those kinds of towers choose Alroe Constructions. Another main reason those clients choose them is the same reason all the company’s clients choose them - namely, their “complete service solution.” “We can take developers from the very early stage of a project all the way through to the end,” Matt explains. “We can start very early on,” he says. “We can help with site selection. We can do feasibility studies and site analysis. We have a team of phenomenal consultants, which allows us to conduct the due diligence process very quickly.” “We have an internal design team,” he continues. “We can assist with the entire DA process. We can take care of all the RFIs and all the backand-forth with council. We can then compile all the working drawings for the project – and the working drawings we produce are highly detailed, which helps ensure a seamless construction process when we APRIL 2023

get on site.” From there, Alroe Constructions also has an in-house team that can assist with branding, marketing, and project sales – and that team will also provide input during the early stages of a project to optimize the projects’ saleability. “We can manage every facet of a project, and we can help our clients turn projects around very quickly and very efficiently,” Matt says. “That makes us pretty unique. There are very few other companies with the ability to offer our complete level of service.” To date, that level of service has led to a lot of repeat business. According to Matt, they have about 10 core developers that they were with on multiple sites per year. Some are now on their seventh or eighth builds with Alroe Constructions. That kind of loyalty is also a credit to the quality of Alroe Constructions’ workmanship. Matt says that quality, in turn, is a credit to their team – including their in-house staff, as well as their roster of trusted trades and subcontractors. “We’re selective about the trades we work with,” he says. “Quality control is at the forefront of our business. They have to understand that.” Fortunately, Matt adds, they have identified a number of trades who share their commitment to quality, and he says they have put in the work and “built some great relationships,” even in the midst of “challenging times.” “We really work to make it a win-win relationship,” he explains. “We understand there’s been a lot of price pressure with supply issues and labour shortages over the past couple years, and we’ve worked hand-in-hand with our trades to get through it.” “The challenging thing is working with build prices and contract prices that were set 18 months earlier and by the time we’re ready to go to site, things have changed quite significantly. That puts a lot of pressures on developers and builders. We’ve put in a lot of work in relationship management with our trades to work through that. We’re always seeking to achieve a win-win solution – and we certainly support the trades that support us.” The same goes for Alroe’s roster of material suppliers, who also tend to be longstanding. YDL Stone is a prime example. They are a family-owned company that specializes in the manufacturing and exporting of various stones to the local and overseas market. Over the years, they have also expanded to supply cabinets, and tapeware, and have become a one-stop-shop solution for interior decoration. What sets them apart is their commitment to people and customer relationships – which is exactly what Alroe looks for in their partners. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

Recently, the quality of Alroe Constructions’ work has been repeatedly recognized with a number of award victories and nominations from industry bodies including the HIA. For example, at the 2022 HIA Gold Coast / Northern Rivers Housing and Kitchen & Bathroom Awards, they won the ‘Specialised Housing’ category. In that case, the winning project was a five-storey development located on George Street, in the hub of Southport on the Gold Coast. The development promised 10 NDIS units, a carers unit, multipurpose consultation rooms, massage and therapy rooms, and multiple outdoor recreational spaces. It was purpose-designed and built for High Physical Support tenants, and as such included stateof-the-art automatic doors and fixtures with complete customisable CBUS access controls that can be accessed via a mobile phone or tablet app. Additionally, there are zero threshold doorways, generous living spaces and large balconies, bathrooms Industry recognised APRIL 2023

and kitchens that cater for High Physical Support. Later in 2022, that George Street project went on to win the Specialized Housing category for all of Queensland. At the 2022 Gold Coast / Northern Rivers awards, Alroe Constructions was also a finalist for ‘Townhouse Builder of the Year’ for a pair of highly-customized waterfront duplexes in Palm Beach, which they called ‘Marlin Villas.’ Matt says that Alroe Constructions highly values that kind of industry recognition – especially when it’s recognition of their NDIS work, which they take a lot of pride in. “There’s clearly a lot of need for that kind of work, the government has recognized that, and it means a lot to us to be at the forefront of it,” he says. Moving forward, Alroe Constructions plans to do a lot more NDIS work – and a lot more unique NDIS work, in particular. For example, they are currently working with a repeat client on three luxurious beachfront towers in Surfer’s Paradise. One of the suits will offer luxurious inner city NDIS living – it will include half-floor SDA units with three full-floor residential sub-penthouses above as well as one full penthouse. The building will also include a carer unit and a central facility with support amenities including a hydrotherapy pool. “That project is offering people with disabilities the ability to live in a highly-desirable beachfront area,” Matt says. “A lot of these projects are in areas that aren’t quite as appealing as this one, which makes this one pretty special.” In addition, Alroe Constructions THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

is also currently working on a project at Russell Street, Cleveland. There, they are construction multiple two-andthree-storey dwellings, which will include 24 High Physical Support SDA units as well as central facilities and carer units. “Within the NDIS sector, we’re delivering some really fantastic mid-to-high-rise products in some really fantastic locations,” Matt says, “and we’re looking forward to doing more.” Lastly, Alroe Constructions is looking forward to continued growth – though not necessarily in terms of turnover or staff size. “For us, growth is not about the size of the company,” Matt says. “It’s about getting better at what we do. It’s about optimizing our current model and figuring out how to best provide the ‘complete building solution’ we talk about.” “If we know that we’re surpassing our client’s needs and expectations, then we know we’re on the right track,” he concludes. “We know we have a unique offering, we just want do everything we can to optimize that. “ APRIL 2023

THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA For more on Alroe Constructions, their team, their projects, and their NDIS expertise, visit https://www.alroeconstructions.com.au/

ZAC Homes Offers Custom Designs across Sydney

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ZAC Homes is an award-winning bespoke home builder based in Penrith that offers custom and duplex homes across Sydney. With nearly 30 years of experience, the company produces an exciting range of residences from the granny flat to million-dollar homes. “We pride ourselves in having exceptional customer service and making the journey of building your new ZAC home as fun and exciting as possible,” states Peter Zaccazan, ZAC Homes Managing Director. “Our designs stand out from the crowd and are as unique on the inside as they are on the outside,” he says. “Our designs are unique, functional and compliment the needs of the first home buyers, modern families, and investors.” Peter brings a family tradition in the construction industry to ZAC Homes. “I started back in 1988 as an apprentice carpenter to my father. I did an apprenticeship with him then I became a qualified carpenter,” he explains. “We started just doing house frames and roofs and renovations then after a few years started right into it on my own and started to work with local architects in my local area in Penrith. We started doing renovations and extensions with them and then grew the business from there. Originally, it was just me, my mom, and an uncle of mine and then we grew it to what it is today.” Peter says his initial vision for the company has evolved through the years. “When I first started out, I was just doing oneoff type custom renovations, one-off homes and started to work for architects in town and that was very challenging and I enjoyed that, but it was very time consuming as well. You couldn’t actually do multiple projects because I was so in debt so then I decided that when my kids all went to school, that I’d grow the business and set up in my hometown and do more mainstream. It was still custom, but not as in-depth as it was so that I could do more THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

volume. That’s the model that we have now, where we do a lot of volume.” “We concentrate on knock-down rebuilds and predominately all we do is duplexes,” he says. “Ninety percent of our work is duplex work.” In terms of size and cost, Peter says that ZAC Homes offers a “diverse” range of projects “We still do the odd granny flat,” he says, with a recent project coming in at $180,000. On the opposite end of the scale the company’s current jobs include work on a duplex that has a price tag of around $2.8 million. High standards and quality workmanship help set ZAC Homes apart from the competition. Peter explains how he brings quality control to the building process. “I instill in my supervisors that every house should be built the same. The only difference is the finish or the product, so the quality of the workmanship would be the same in every home. They should all be built as if I was the one moving in, so I have a high standard of quality when we hand them over.” Offering custom designs is another ZAC Homes difference. “A lot of the home builders are like a sausage factory, they just mass produce the same product,” Peter explains. “That’s a good model to have, but we do knock-down rebuilds…it’s not just a standard product because every brownfield and block of land is a different size, and the clients want to maximize the size of duplex they can get on so we custom design to suit either the counsel’s requirements or we sometimes go CDC trying to simplify…to speed it up.” Peter points out that the company’s end-to-end approach is also a big selling point with clients. APRIL 2023

“They like that we can custom design but that we can also do everything from knocking the house down all the way through to getting the title and strata subdivision done at the end. We do the whole package for them so that they don’t have to do anything,” he says. Peter notes that when it comes to building lasting relationships with clients, “You’ve got to be honest and transparent.” “Nobody’s perfect. If you make a mistake, you put your hand up and say you’ve made a mistake and then you see the best way to fix that problem and overcome it together.” “As a company, our core values are trust, respect, integrity and pride which are not only shown throughout our offices but also extended to every client.” Peter says that he has repeat customers, longstanding clients among certain investors in Australia. “A lot of people now days they are called Mum and Daddy investors, developers. They either own a block or buy a block to do a duplex to make money out of. If they get a good experience upfront and their first one goes well, they keep coming back. We have some clients to do one every year with us. I’ve got one client who still does work with me from 20 years ago. He still lives in his home that I built for him 20 years ago.” As far as relationship with trades, the company has a longstanding relationship with some of the trades while others are newer to the operation. “I’ve got some subbies that I’ve had with me for 20 years and we have some subbies that are new. We have a good relationship with them,” Peter says. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

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ZAC Homes’ high workmanship standards are expected from their subcontractors. “Me and my group operations manager, he’s pretty much out of the same mold as me, we’re both carpenters. We instill it in the trades from day one that this is what we expect, and we don’t take anything less,” Peter says. Their exceptional work has been spotlighted recently with two HIA Awards for the New South Wales Region: HIA Best Kitchen and Display Home, 2020 and HIA Best Kitchen under 15m, 2020. The homes are in Marsden Park. “These were two houses that we designed to compete with the other sausage factory type builders so to speak and they’ve done very well. We’ve got a single story and a double story up there. And we’ve tried to showcase how people live today with the open plan living, with the indoors and outdoors feeling like it’s all part of one and when we’ve used materials that are new to the market and really pop and have people asking questions.” “In Marsden Park, our California Design won Best Kitchen and Display Home,” Peter says. “The general theme for the California interior was taken directly from its mid-century inspired façade. Throughout the home you’ll find natural elements of stone and timber however the kitchen and alfresco areas are the standouts.” In all, the California was recognized by the HIA for its bold, edgy, modern, and totally livable design as well as the quality workmanship that can be seen throughout. Designed with young families and empty nesters in mind, the Sorento – winner of the Best Kitchen under 15m – has a kitchen with real wow factor as well as function. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

When choosing the colour palette, designers used the 2018 Pantone Colour of the Year (Ultra Violet) and the 2019 Pantone Colour of the Year (Living Coral). For warmth, copper tones were introduced in the undermounted sink, mixer tap, upper cabinets, splashback tiles, island pendants and in a cut-out feature on the front of the island. “We love seeing the joy when construction begins on a customer’s new home and their excitement when we handover the keys. Nothing beats it. But there’s something that comes close and that’s being recognized for our excellence in design and craftsmanship,” Peter says. “It’s good branding for people to see that we’ve won awards. At the end of the day, a trophy so to speak on the shelf is always good and over the years we’ve won awards for best use of timber, or best kitchen or best bathroom. It’s good for us and my staff to know that they’re cutting-edge in what we do and that’s what we like to be.’ When looking to the future and possible growth, Peter says he is comfortable with the size of the company and where it is today. “For the type of builds that we do, we’re pretty much at 100 projects a year and the average build is probably $800,000 a build and that’s probably where we want to see it,” he says. APRIL 2023

THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

Making the change

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Moonyah Group is a proudly Australian and Indigenousowned business that delivers a wide range of building services across Australia. With Moonyah Services, they operate on a national level delivering complete building and asset maintenance solutions to a variety of sectors. Their services are all backed by rigour business and safety processes, ensuring all activities are managed with confidence, transparency, and efficiency. With Moonyah Workforce, they provide recruitment, labour hire, and traffic controllers. They are dedicated to supplying quality personnel while solving the complexities around their clients’ reconciliation action plan requirements and contractual obligations. “We offer local-business service with big-business reach,” says Saia Fainga’a, who founded the company with his twin brother, Anthony. “We pride ourselves on matching the right people with the right projects to deliver the best outcomes for everyone involved. And though we operate nationally, we are a family run business and are committed to providing quality products with exceptional customer service.” Saia and Anthony are “very proud” Aboriginal men, whose grandmother was part of the stolen generation. They belong to the Mundalung mob from the north east coast of Australia. Prior to forming Moonyah Group, they were professional rugby players – and as athletes, they developed a culture and mindset they are now transitioning to the commercial sector. Since Saia and Anthony formed Moonyah Group in 2021, the company has grown extremely quickly. When they started, it was just the two of them. Roughly 18 months later, their team numbered approximately 380. The group’s services and capabilities evolved and expanded just as quickly. Today, on the Moonyah Services side, their offering is vast, and includes corporate THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

insurance, residential property maintenance services, commercial property fit out, refurbishment, new builds and other construction services within both the public and private sectors. The company also offers plumbing and electrical services, civil works, modular homes or site offices, project management, and client-side project management “We have a proven track record for delivering projects and services of varying sizes and complexity both on time and on budget,” Saia says. “We are accustomed to working within tight and inflexible deadlines, and we do so without compromising service delivery, quality, or design.” Moonyah Workforce, meanwhile, provides labour hire and recruitment and traffic management services. Their mission is to help Australians – particularly Indigenous Australians, but not only Indigenous Australians – to find opportunities in the workforce, and to help companies navigate the complexities around reconciliation action plans. In forming Moonyah Workforce, Saia and Anthony’s goal was to give workers “a sense of purpose and opportunity” – particularly workers who weren’t getting other opportunities because of either their circumstances or past mistakes. “We just wanted to help people,” Saia explains. “We wanted to help break the cycle that some people fall into. We wanted to help them make a change.” They also wanted to help their clients make a change, and help them find workers that were specifically suited to their needs. They wanted to introduce a recruitment process that “more than an anonymous form and some online training.” APRIL 2023

“We don’t just run search queries through a giant database to fulfil orders,” Saia says. “Instead, we build long-term relationships with our workers. We visit our clients’ sites regularly and we understand the day-to-day challenges faced.” “We also understand that different projects need different types of people,” he adds. “It’s not just about ticking the boxes in terms of qualifications or experience. We also consider factors like culture fit to build teams that achieve strong results across diverse public and private projects.” “It’s all part of our commitment to fresh thinking and contemporary best practices in labour hire and recruitment.” Geographically, Moonyah Workforce works all across Australia. Their clients include multinationals, smaller private firms, and government enterprises. As an Indigenous company, they are particularly well suited to help clients with their reconciliation action plan requirements and spend goals, and they work closely with Indigenous Elders and Traditional land groups within the individual project’s local community. At the same time, as previously mentioned, their service isn’t limited to Indigenous Australians. “We do not discriminate,” Saia says. “Whether you’re Indigenous or not, we don’t discriminate. Yes, we are an Indigenous, but no we don’t only employ Indigenous people.” “We want to help people,” he reiterates, “and we know that everyone is hurting. We want to make sure we can help anyone. Anthony and I were discriminated against growing up, we know what it feels like, and we don’t want to discriminate against other THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

people. We want to make sure we run an inclusive business.” That inclusivity is reflected in the company’s name – ‘Moonyah’ means ‘safe house’ in Aboriginal language. From the perspective of job seekers, that inclusivity is a big part of what sets Moonyah Group apart. Another big factor is their approach to finding work, which is a lot different than a lot of other labour hire companies: “The stereotype of labour hire is that it’s day-to-day and people don’t know where they’re going or whether they’ll have a job tomorrow,” Saia says. “When we started Moonyah Workforce, we thought ‘Let’s change that. Let’s chase the work so that when people come to us, they’ll have work for three months, or six months.’ We wanted to provide long-term employment.” Workers also choose Moonyah because of their emphasis on training and professional development. One of their key partners, for example, is ACTA Group – which is an established Registered Training Organisation whose purpose as a company is to deliver their clients’ documented and improved training experiences. Their service is detailed and flexible, and they are able to manage all aspects of the training process to the highest standard available in the industry. Like Moonyah, they are wholly Australian-owned and operated. Because they invest so heavily in training – and because they so genuinely care about their workers and want to help them improve their lives – Moonyah is able to foster a workforce of dependable people, who turn up to site well-presented and equipped, and ready to work. That’s part of what sets Moonyah apart from the APRIL 2023

perspective of employers. “We know and qualify our workers,” Saia explains. “If we present a candidate, you can bet they’re good to go. Our HR team know building and civil construction recruitment. Labour, trades, traffic control and more – our team turn up with the skills you need, when you need.” “Our team turn up well presented, on time with basic PPE supplied by us, ready to work,” he adds. “We’re surprised at how many clients comment on the presentation of our workers.” As a company, Moonyah is also regularly on site to anticipate their client’s needs and their worker’s requirements. They take of things such as medicals, fit testing, and safe work method statements – “that’s our job, so the client can focus on theirs,” Saia says. Moonyah also regularly produces task observation and verification of competency reports, which provide further peace of mind. Furthermore, Moonyah forms “real, long-term, face-to-face relationships with clients,” according to Saia As a result, they are able to gain a strong understanding of their specific needs and requirements and how to meet them. The key to forming those relationships, Saia believes, is communication and availability: “You need us, you call us,” he says. “Same goes for our team. We’re on site regularly to speak with project managers and foremen, to ensure the client, their project and our workers have everything they need to finish the job.” Building those relationships is also about being honest about their capabilities, Saia adds: “We have a policy in our office that if we’re not ready to take on THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

the work, we don’t take it on,” he says. “One thing that rugby taught us is that you only have one opportunity to perform. And if you don’t perform, you’re not going to get rehired. So we’ll only take on work if we’re prepared for it and know we can do a really good job.” Getting bigger and making a bigger impact In addition to Moonyah Services and Moonyah Workforce, Saia and Anthony are also the directors of Madji Indigenous Furniture – a company that supplies commercial furniture across Australia and New Zealand. Their high-quality furniture is manufactured in Brisbane and is upholstered with authentic Indigenous designs created by talented First Nations artists. Moving forward, Moonyah Group’s vision is to continue growing all of their brands. According to Saia, the potential for growth all around is enormous and they want do everything they can to seize it: “Our plan is to be listed on the stock exchange,” he says. “We want to be the first Indigenous company to be listed. That’s our goal. That’s what we want to do.” The reason they want to get bigger, Saia reiterates, is so they can make more of a difference. The bigger their company is and the more people they work with, the bigger the change they can make. “That’s what we’re all about – helping people to change their lives,” he concludes. “Our goal is to do that on the largest scale possible.” APRIL 2023

THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA For more on Moonyah Group, their companies, capabilities, and past projects – and to get in touch with Saia, Anthony, and their team – visit https://moonyah.com.au/ For more on Moonyah Workforce, in particular, visit https://moonyahworkforce.com.au/ And for more on Madji Indigenous Furniture, visit https://madji.com.au/

About Space Lighting is a company that believes lighting does more than illuminate a room. According to Veronica Vasserman, Operations Manager, lighting is “the final touch to bring life to your space, elevating atmosphere, balancing design choices, and enhancing your style.” At About Space, their mission is to provide customers with decorative, architectural, and commercial lighting solutions that live up to their belief in lighting’s importance. Lighting trendsetters

MARCH 2023

The origins of About Space date back to 1989, when founder and owner Mark Vasserman first started a company called Design Station, which created specialized furniture pieces for clients. In 2009, that company rebranded to focus on decorative lighting and changed their name to About Space – “Mark saw that lighting was something that Australia needed, and he had a real passion for it,” Veronica recalls. Since then, the company has evolved from a bespoke design business into one of Australia’s foremost lighting companies. Today, About Space has four showrooms across Melbourne, Sydney and Tasmania, while also having an active online store. They work closely with retail customers as well as architects, interior designers, electrical wholesalers, contractors and developers. They source from Europe, Asia, and Australia in order to ensure their range offers the latest in functionality, design and sustainability. No matter who their client is, however, and no matter the scope of the project – whether it’s a single light to complete a room, or an entire home renovation – About Space’s approach is always the same. Their passionate and highlytrained team works closely with the client, whoever they are, to help deliver a contemporary and functional solution that meets their needs. THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA At the same time, About Space also holds a lot of stock in-house, so they can also help clients who are looking for more standard solutions. Even in those cases, however, Veronica says the company “still focuses on quality.”

MARCH 2023 “We do a huge range of projects,” Veronica says. “We do both residential and commercial. We can provide a single wall light for a bathroom. We can do a custom decorative piece for a foyer space in a hotel lobby. We can do every light in that hotel. It’s a huge range, and we have dedicated people within our company who can facilitate all those services.” “We don’t do stadium lights,” she clarifies, “but basically everything else we can do.” “Our clients choose us for a combination of reasons,” she adds. “One of the main reasons is our unique product offering. Another reason is that we’re very solution based. If someone comes to us with a lighting problem, we can solve it. If someone comes to us with a lighting idea or concept, we can make it a reality. We have people who come to us with a scribble on a napkin, and we help build them build it out into an actual product.” At the same time, About Space also holds a lot of stock inhouse, so they can also help clients who are looking for more standard solutions. Even in those cases, however, Veronica says the company “still focuses on quality.” “Quality is something we’re constantly working on and improving,” she says. “It can be difficult when you have more than 700 different products, but a big part of it just doing a lot of spot-checking and testing before we package a product and send it off. If there’s ever an issue, we’ll do what it takes to resolve it.”

THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA Then there’s their responsive customer service – Veronica believes that’s another one of the main reasons their clients choose them, as well as a key part of why they have been so successful at earning repeat business and referrals. “We provide quick response times,” she explains, “and when there’s an issue, we work quickly to resolve it. If things go wrong, we’re there to support our customers. It doesn’t matter whether the issue stems from their side, from our side, or from the transport side – so many different things can happen, and it’s our responsibility to resolve those situations quickly.”

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Over the past 13 years, About Space Lighting has not only built lasting relationships with clients, but with their other stakeholders as well. Many of the company’s direct employees, for example, have been with the company for years – which is important, because they perform a lot of their assembly and repairs inhouse. Then when it comes to the subcontractors they do use – electricians, mainly – they have also built some strong and lasting ties. “We have a number of companies that we’ve dealt with many times, and we’ve found that their service has been really positive,” Veronica says. “We’ve found them to be very honest and knowledgeable. Those are really key characteristics for us – all our guys and girls have to be honest, and they have to have a good understanding of what they are doing.” Honest and knowledgeable THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

MARCH 2023 Moving forward, as the company grows, Veronica says they want to maintain those strong relationships with those favoured partners, but they also want to add more to the roster. She says they’re always on the lookout for electricians who share their values and they can trust to deliver quality. Speaking of growth, Veronica also says that “we’re definitely not shrinking, that’s for sure – we’re growing quite significantly each year.” That’s in terms of the size of their team as well as the scope of their offering. They now do everything from lighting design to lighting advice to producing custom lighting solutions – “that didn’t all happen on the first day we opened the door,” Veronica says. “A big part of our growth has been adding more capabilities,” she explains. “We expect that to continue.” About Space also expects to open up more physical locations over the coming years. They further expect to enhance their public profile and reputation within the industry. Long-term, they want to be known as “one of the trendsetters in lighting in Australia.” “We want to be the preferred brand for Australians,” Veronica says. “When they are looking for custom lighting and unique designs, we want Australians to think of us first.”

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As an example of the kind of custom lighting solution About Space can provide, Veronica cites their recent work on Medicins Legale’s office in Sydney. There, they designed and produced a series of large custom LED rings, which were made of aluminium profile. They did the whole office, so they provided other products within that project, but that was the big custom showpiece. As another example, Veronica points to their work on a Scape student accommodation project in Melbourne. She describes that project as “super colourful” and “very fun” – in fact, those were basically the words in the brief. There, About Space custom made a number of different track lights in specific colours tailored to Scape’s look – “so there were oranges and blues and pinks,” Veronica says. “It’s not very common to get track lighting in various colours apart from your blacks and your whites, so that was very fun.” Custom solutions MARCH 2023

For more on About Space Lighting, their designs, products, and past projects – and to get in touch with their team today – visit https://aboutspace.net.au/ THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

CU Building Group is a company that provides a complete range of exceptional property services to families, investors, and professionals looking to acquire their dream Perth property. What sets them apart is their service offering, which is truly comprehensive. No matter the size or scope of the projects, have the ability to support and guide clients throughout each and every stage, from the feasibility and conceptual stages, all the way through to construction, finishing, and post-build maintenance. A complete property service

APRIL 2023

“Our clients enjoy the freedom that comes with an all-in-one company,” says Lyn Bu, General Manager. “We have a team that understands property and we have the industry experience to assist clients with each step of their property journey.” “Whether they have never built before, or whether they are a seasoned investor, our full list of property services are tailored to address every aspect of the journey and we are flexible in collaborating with our clients to achieve the very best result,” he adds. “From green title residential homes and subdivision investment projects, through to multistory buildings and customised luxury mansions – we have the experience and skills to produce unsurpassed quality regardless of the project scope.” CU Building Group was founded by Lyn and her husband Max Jia, who both bring a depth of industry experience and expertise to their roles. Max, for instance, graduated from the University of Sydney with qualifications in both Civil Engineering and Project Management, and his professional career spans numerous years in various construction companies throughout both Western Australia and New South Wales. Lyn, meanwhile, has been in the construction and development industry for over 11 years, and she spent many of those years with one of the largest project builders in Australia. In forming CU Building Group, Max and Lyn’s vision was to create a more boutique company than they had worked at previously. They wanted to build “high-quality, customized, and client-oriented” projects, and they wanted to offer a more “complete property service” for both locally-based and international clients. From the start, Max and Lyn’s vision was also to be diverse – and they have realized that vision, as CU Building Group now does a wide variety of work, including single-residential homes, multi-residential developments, and also some THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

commercial projects, including shop fit-outs and warehouses. No matter the sector they are working in, however, Lyn believes that clients choose CU Building Group for the same reasons. The main reason, she says, is the completeness of their offering – they can take of everything from feasibility, to valuations, budget setting, finance assistance, legal support, design consultation (interior and exterior), as well as handle the full construction process and post-construction maintenance. Through providing that complete service, CU Building Group has been able to form some extremely strong relationships with clients. The strength of those relationships is reflected in the company’s history of repeat clients, referrals, and word of mouth. According to Lyn, that’s how they generate virtually all of their work: “We actually never advertise,” she says. “All of our clients are referral-based. I would say that 99 per cent of our clients are either returning clients or they are friends or family of past clients.” In fact, Lyn says that clients usually have to be referred. CU Building Group receives enough interest that they get to be somewhat selective of who they work with, even during periods that might be considered “downtimes” by others in the industry. One of the company’s main criterions when selecting their projects is that they have to have worked with the client before, or the client has to know someone who has worked with them before. That way, they can be sure that all parties know what to expect. “We choose clients who share our vision and values,” Lyn APRIL 2023

explains. “They have to care about quality, efficiency, and value. They can’t be looking for the cheapest price – because we’re not the cheapest in town, not at all, but we provide a lot of value for money.” CU Building Group also provides an extremely high standard of quality, regardless of the size or typology of the project. Lyn says that every project receives the same attention to detail: “Whether it’s a luxury home for an owner-occupier or a townhouse for an investor, our process is always the same and our quality is always the same,” she says. “The specifications may be different, but the attention we pay and the effort we give are always equal.” To ensure that consistent level of effort and attention, CU Building Group employs a highly-experienced team. According to Lyn, the company has 21 full-time team members, and all of them have between 10 and 20 years’ experience building and developing in Western Australia. “We don’t really take on new graduates,” she says. “They have to be qualified for at least 10 years before we interview them and consider taking them on board. Our supervisors, our construction managers, and our designers are all really wellqualified. That really reduces the mistakes we make.” CU Building Group is also highly systemized, which further limits mistakes and improves efficiency. Lyn and Max come from backgrounds in commercial building, and they have taken a lot of the processes from the commercial sector and applied them to residential building: “Because of our experience, we can ensure that essentially every single day there is some THE CONSTRUCTION SOURCE AUSTRALIA

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