Our History.

Hawkins Construction is an established business with over six and a half decades of building pedigree and stands as one of New Zealand’s largest privately owned construction companies.

Our business has evolved to become a diversified enterprise providing development and construction services across a broad range of sectors within the commercial building and property market. We are a truly national company with many of our projects featuring prominently in the New Zealand urban and rural landscape.

Hawkins Construction owes its name to Fred T. Hawkins, a builder and true kiwi entrepreneur, whose vision in post-war New Zealand led to the establishment of what is now one of the country's largest privately owned construction companies. Fred believed in excellence and set high standards, creating a benchmark for the future.

From small beginnings in Fred's Hamilton garage, Hawkins Construction has evolved to become a company that has seen healthy growth over six decades. In 1951 the Hamilton-based company listed on the then New Zealand Stock Exchange (now NZX) and over the next four decades grew an ever-widening client and regional base, expanding to Auckland in 1978.

In 1983, in a “reverse takeover”, McConnell Dowell merged with Hawkins Holdings Limited, and the company continued trading as part of the McConnell Dowell Corporation. As part of the group, Hawkins developed considerable experience in international contracting, providing management and supervisory resources for projects in Guam, Hawaii, Saudi Arabia and the Pacific.

Hawkins Construction relocated its head office to Auckland in 1988 to respond more effectively to the changing demands of the construction industry. In 1994 following McConnell Dowell's decision to return to its core civil business, Hawkins was sold back into private ownership.

Today, Hawkins Construction is a leader in providing clients with dependable construction and engineering management for a diverse range of clients.

Our Approach

At Hawkins our aim is to provide construction excellence on every project and to ensure our clients and other stakeholders enjoy working with us along the way.

We view each project as a partnership. The partnering concept is defined by having quantifiable project goals, a clear definition and understanding of the project scope, an understanding and appropriate allocation of risks, agreement on risk/reward arrangement and skilled project staff.

For Hawkins the most important factor in the partnering relationship is well-defined communications through all levels conducted with respect, integrity and a “best for project” mentality. Hawkins prides itself in developing project leaders who can relate to and understand the needs of a wide variety of project stakeholders, and who can translate their various requirements into smarter thinking in delivering the project. Hawkins Construction strongly believes in putting the best person for the job on the job, every time.

Our Culture

To operate a profitable business over many decades requires constant delivery of results and an ability to build and retain enduring relationships. We value those people who make every effort to recognise the importance of teamwork, flexibility and responsiveness.

A key to the Hawkins dynamic is the company’s habit of throwing the team in the deep end every now and again. Hawkins does so with the utmost confidence that its team will not only swim, but thrive and grow under the pressure. Hawkins employees seem to love a challenge. It’s in our DNA.

We believe that the challenges presented by modern building projects generate great opportunities for smarter thinking and building excellence. Our growth has been driven by meeting these challenges, enabled by a culture of our people sharing knowledge freely within the organisation to maintain the high standards expected of Hawkins projects.